RINGGITPLUS HOPES GOVT LIMIT INCENTIVE TO E-WALLETS THAT DISALLOW CASH-OUT FACILITY

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 -- Ringgitplus.com hopes that the government will limit the incentive to e-wallets that disallow a cash-out facility, in response to the RM30 one-off credit in Malaysians’ e-wallet accounts early next year as announced in the 2020 Budget.

Chief executive officer Hann Liew said if the incentive is not limited, it may reduce the measure’s effectiveness towards pushing Malaysians to embrace e-wallets and becoming a cashless society.

“Additionally, while the absolute amount is small, given the scope and scale of the policy, I’m hopeful that we will get close to a similar impact of the banknote demonetisation policies seen in other countries, such as India,” he said in a statement.

In fully support the government’s initiative to rebalance the books and redistribute income in line with their Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, he opined that a two-point increase to a 30 per cent tax rate for those earning more than RM2 million may miss the mark a little, at least visually.

He said despite crossing the psychological 30 per cent threshold for a top tax rate, this new tax band only affects a total of about 2,000 taxpayers, hence limiting the impact of this measure.

“I feel that carrying out a sensitivity analysis on all taxpayers earning above RM250,000 per year and keeping the highest-income tier rate at 28 or 29 per cent would have been a better alternative.

“This would allow us to keep the top rate under that 30 per cent optical mark, and still increase the net revenue impact on the government’s coffers,” he added.

-- BERNAMA