service tax on malaysian credit cards

The budget announcement came and went last Friday. Overall, there was nothing spectacular for the individual while the industrialist may already be dancing on the table ! What bothers me most is the imposition of RM50 service tax on each credit card aimed at curbing spending. Here's my story...... I have about 15 credit cards and they're all free from annual fees. My friends tell me I am crazy but I have my reasons. I pay in full each month and I use my cards to organize my spending. This allows me to easily monitor my monthly expenses and to spot any fraud charges just as easily. For example, I use one card specifically for petrol and a few others for specific stores. I feel "safe" using credit cards since I only need to carry a minimum amount of cash. In addition, I've learnt to appreciate the perks and freebies. Instead of cash, I use my credit cards and earn points that I always use to redeem supermarket vouchers. Annually, this will add up to a little over RM1,000 in vouchers. This is something that I really appreciate especially during months when I have unforeseen expenses. Some of these, I will pass on to my mum. EON Bank has a fantastic feature where I am able to convert any purchase over RM500 into an installment for a small fee that I gladly pay. It helped me plenty recently when my TV got busted and I needed to replace it. After a car accident and the repair expenses early this month, it was a gift from God to have the credit card handy. Both my mum and aunt have two credit cards each for medical emergencies; otherwise they are cash bunnies. Our government has failed to realize that credit cards have helped many of us. What they should have done was to have banks impose stricter application requirements or to increase the salary qualification for credit card application. Banks could also approve a spending limit suitable with the cardholder's salary. This tax imposition will however affect many of us who do not abuse the lenient application procedures. Unless the banks absorb the RM50 service tax, I am likely to cancel most of my credit cards. It's a sad move but an inevitable one as I do not see myself throwing good money out the window ! Do you ?

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..what a bugger - malaysian income tax submission

30th April was the day all Malaysians were required to submit their taxes and many did this online. Many who submitted at the last hours experienced a website "time out" and became frustrated. It's not that we wanted to do it at the last minute but our wonderful government gtanted is tax exemptions that many of us could claim but (as expected), most of us were clueless. There were hardly any specifications or proper guidelines and many of us were running around looking for answers. Could we, could we not, how, how much, what if.......and the list went on and on. Even the professional tax agents such as Ernst & Young were at a lost. There were just too many grey areas that left taxpayers feeling insecure. Having no more time to spare, I submitted mine to the best of my understanding. Honestly, I hardly knew what I was doing and took the statements issued on the tax exemptions per say. Many of us were logging in and out of the website as if there was no tomorrow. Some unlucky taxpayers were on the verge of tears and insanity. This is something that our government needs to look into - preparing the agencies for public enquiries. Me ? I sent them an email and even called since their reply only led me back to what I did not understand. It was a "copy-paste" job that any fool could undertake. It's not uncommon nor was their reply unexpected. I can only hope that this act of foolishness, unpreparedness and ignorance will never be repeated. At least not at the taxpayers cost !

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