2018 Budget

I didn't  follow every single speech on the Budget ... but these are my impressions and questions in my mind thus far . I read that one of the main reasons is that we need to fund for an aging population, provide more for those with those needy ones etc  and one of the best means is to increase GST from 7 to 9% , timing to be confirmed. 

Questions :

- Have we done projections and simulations of what's the incremental taxes we can get via GST increase vs other taxation means like luxury taxes or estate duties ? I saw some statements that the rest are not practical or sufficient but can we see some numbers to confirm ? These are important enough decisions to warrant some careful computations. 

- Assuming GST is the only means to reach the target, can GST be waived for certain daily necessities like rice , baby food, milk powder, education , self improvement courses etc. If we do not segregate , everyone gets hit , be it the rich, the middle class or the poor. And the poor gets hit the most as they experienced the ripple effect of retailers/businesses increasing overall prices of everything way more than 2% 

- Apart from just raising taxes via GST, tax on cigarettes , stamp duty on buying property more than $1million etc, have we closely examine all our expenditure ? Have we compared operating efficiency across each department and body to see if there's any excesses that could be trimmed to self fund our needs? Raising taxes via GST is an easy way out , and should be taken as a last resort , not the first way out. Until and unless we have visibility and accountability of how we are spending our money, it's going to be hard to justify why we need so much extra money . 

- Instead of giving the GST vouchers that do nothing much except some one time consolation / gratification  (as the benefits are likely to be eroded by the overall price increases of things) , why don't these surplus be put in a reserve to be used to tide over expenses , and prevent a GST hike from as long as we can? I don't know about you but about a tax of $9 on every $100 spent is a hefty number to reckon with. I will start buying things overseas where I can at least claim some tax refund. 

I'm ok for GST hike if evidence is overwhelming but at this stage, I just cannot see it yet. 


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