I REFER to a media report where tax experts were asked to give their opinions on what they would like to see in the upcoming Budget.

It is heartening to know that the Government has brought forward the announcement of this year's Budget to Jan 22.

Most importantly, all businesses and individual Singaporeans are expecting the Government to come up with short-term measures to help them tide over this difficult time and alleviate their burden, as well as working out long-term measures to stimulate the economy.

Government agencies can also work with businesses to explore, secure and expand a share in overseas markets.

Some pragmatic and workable fiscal measures which I can think of are:

• The Government could adopt a combination of long-term structural changes to tax rates and short-term tax rebate to help businesses and individuals.

For example, it can cut rates for property tax, income tax, stamp duties and goods and services tax, or give a one-time lump-sum tax rebate to businesses and individuals.

• The Ministry of Manpower and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) must work hard to think of more persuasive means to convince employers to cut costs and save jobs for Singaporeans.

They sometimes have to assert their authority diplomatically to assure or convince employers to adopt logical, rational ways of handling a crisis.

• The Workforce Development Agency and NTUC must continually promote and actively encourage employers to adopt the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur), and to help elderly, lowly-educated and low-skilled workers to upgrade their knowledge and sharpen their skills in order to keep jobs and stay competitive in the labour market.
• In particular, the Government should help the middle class by giving them more tax rebates and some form of financial assistance as this group has often been overlooked by the Government.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore should work closely with banks to make the loan system more flexible for businesses. This will give companies better access to a wider range of funds.
• The authorities should think of possible ways to reduce the prices of essential services, such as public-transport fares.

Mr Teo Kueh Liang

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