Sunday, October 25, 2009

PM thinks we should not complain...

Hear what our PM said:

PM: RM50 for credit card not a big deal

HUA HIN: Describing Budget 2010 as “painless”, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the people should not complain about the Government’s decision to impose a RM50 annual service tax on principal credit and charge cards.

Instead, the Prime Minister said they should look at the overall benefits offered by the Govern-ment in the Budget.

“They are getting the RM1,000 tax relief and those paying tax at 27% will now pay 26%.

“So, they get two (relief measures) and only have to pay RM50 (per credit card). Don’t tell me they cannot pay RM50?” he said after a meeting at the 15th Asean Summit here yesterday.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/25/budget2010/4974446&sec=budget2010

I don't normally blog about political stuff. But for this issue, I think I have to highlight this so that we, as a citizen knows what is happening and what needs to be done.

My comment is that it is not RM50 that matter. It is the string of implications following it. I wish the govenment think through rather than trying to solve problem in a simplistic manner.

7 comments:

Reanaclaire said...

william, i heard my fren mentioning about 50rm for each credit card we own... i didnt know it will be charged annually..wow... 50rm is a lot for a year.. why penalize us? maybe this will discourage others from spending more.. as for now it is free, i have a few but all redundant ones... better to cancel them now!

wenn said...

oh..don't know what to say..i seldom use cr card..mine is supplementary..

William said...

claire: But if we go travelling, we no longer carry cash. We just bring along 2 credit cards, one for insurance just in case the other mess up! It is so covenient!

Wenn: Supplementary also must pay RM25!

Anonymous: Yes, the government figured that there are 9 million cards. So, 50 x 9M=RM450M extra revenue!

Those tax relief of RM1000 and 1% are not a lot. For low income, they are meaningless and therefore the poor will be most affected!

Reanaclaire said...

pastor, read yr comment in my post.. :) dont tsk tsk me lar.. normally i go for saturday service one instead of sunday morning.. :)

Merryn said...

there goes my supp card. cancel dy... coz not ulitised often. now, it's just cash.

William said...

claire: My apologies and I will take back the tsk tsk tsk....
Good to have Saturday service! I can never convince my pastor to do that here!

Merryn: There goes your bonus points also! Haih... a pity! I think the bank will suffer a heart attack as they are the biggest loser! If one card cost RM20 to make, 7 millions will mean RM140million down the drain! Maybe the bank will give incentive or they will lobby the government!

suituapui said...

If you look at the notices in the newspapers - those bankrupt cases, take note of what race most of the defaulters are... Maybe this is a move to deter those people from signing up for credit cards? At the expense of other card users? I would think that it would only serve to get MORE of those people on the notices in the newspapers! Leopards never change their spots!