Race off all official forms? Not quite yet…

Because the service tax license application form (electronic form at the very least) still requires “Race” of the board of directors of a company to be specified… from a very extensive list. Nevertheless, it’s still there.

The Unhappy Happy Hour

And so much for announcing it.

Anyone up for a slap in the face?

Here’s one.

IRB’s refund boo boo

If ya’ll haven’t already heard, plus it was all over the news yesterday, the IRB has withdrawn all tax refund cheques issued from May 27 to 29 and June 1 and 2 on “technical grounds”. Of course, they won’t tell you what’s so technical about the grounds and of course I’ll tell you.

Their cheques were actually perfect except for one little non-cashable boo boo… after the taxpayer’s name on the “Pay to” line, they typed in bank account numbers that belonged to someone else. So, there. Now we all know how the IRB defines “technical”. A typo on a cheque. Thing was, when taxpayers called up about the weird account numbers, their first response was, “Please check with the bank”.

Now, they promise we’ll get our refund by next Wednesday. By post. Would they be “technically” late if they mailed it by Wednesday?

WTF’s that I plan to ignore (for now… or until they blow up in my face)

Sorry for the title. Let me just get right to the point. Today, I discovered two developments in tax. I’m sure I could have phrased the last sentence better, but I’m beyond caring right now.

The first is an addendum to a public ruling and the second one is a gazetted order for a new law.

The addendum was expected. There were rumours of it coming out sometime in March anyway, back when they surprised us with “Yes, it’s an exemption but no, it’s not really an exemption” addendum to the Public Ruling on Perquisites. This addendum, in addition to it being issued right smack in the month when people are already scrambling to file their tax returns and companies have washed their hands of the employees’ EA forms for the calendar year 2008, is obviously about ‘clarifications’ on benefits-in-kind granted to employees that are exempted from the year 2008. Like I said, I plan to ignore whatever’s in that addendum until shit hits the fan, so, let’s not get into what’s in it.

The gazette order, on the other hand, tells us the “good” news that those exempted benefits that we employees get, comes with a tax deduction for the companies giving them. All well and good at first glance. Only, technically, here’s the question: Why would this law be necessary?

To follow up with that question: You mean if not for this law, the companies would not have been able to enjoy a tax deduction for staff benefits?

Third (and last question, I promise): Are you kidding me?!

Oh dear…

What’s worse than a deserted island?

They pretend to giveth… and they snatcheth away before ye can even smell it

Inconsiderate power abusing pricks. That’s the new term I’ll use to describe them from now on.

First, the gazette ain’t even out yet, despite the “law” supposedly having been effective from 1 January 2008. But, they issue an addendum (read: a-them-dumb, because they are) to the Public Ruling that places ridiculous restrictions so that those exemptions that the taxpayers thought should now help in belt-tightening times, are C4-ed into pieces and places far and wide it surprises even this seasoned-getting-used-to-their-idiotic-antics-tax-practitioner.

To explain my rants, let me remind you taxpayers that in Budget 2009, it was announced by the now Defense Minister that employees were meant to be given such goodies as tax exemptions for meal allowances and child care allowances from employers, amongst a slew of exemptions.

The A-Them-Dumb now reads…

Meal allowance provided to an employee for purposes such as overtime or outstation/overseas trips and other similar purposes in exercising his employment is meant to cover meal expenses of the employee. Such meal allowance is paid according to the employee’s position, duties or place where the employment is exercised. As such, any allowance pertaining to meal expenses is chargeable to tax and does not fall under this exemption. Similarly, a per diem allowance which is meant to cover meal expenses for an employee in exercising his employment is also not included in this exemption.

Reality check. A flippin’ two year old would relate a meal allowance to covering meal expenses! Which part of the word “meal” don’t you get in ”meal allowance”?! If it’s not meal expenses, then what? Use the money to buy seeds to cultivate our gardens on our apartment balconies, is it?!

Now, let’s look at how working parents are encouraged to leave their teenagers home alone to join street gangs, lepak and/ or beef up the Mat Rempit population…

For the purpose of this exemption, child means a child of the age of 12 years and below and who is a legitimate child or step-child of an individual or his wife/ husband or a child proved to the satisfaction of the Director General to have been adopted by the individual or his wife/ husband in accordance with any law.

Let’s top off this lump of shit with the fact that the a-them-dumb was issued less than 3 weeks before every employer must submit the details of every one of their employee’s taxable income. Nothing like icing that matches the cake, is there?

Do they ever consult each other?

The news today is Baffling. Okay, news in this country has always been baffling. But this one gives the word a capital B.

First, they announced that there’s gonna be a toll rate increase come this Sunday. And then, get this… the PM objects… to a decision made “two or three weeks ago”!!

Now, the Baffling part. The PM then said that whilst the toll rate increase decision was made less than a month ago… “however the situation has now changed, and the economy has not become better as yet.” 

What the hell is he talking about?! What’s changed?! Okay, nevermind. The other point, which has now been overshadowed, of course, is that a member of his own cabinet goes through the trouble of announcing something which he then takes to the media to denounce. There’s also another, buried between the lines, bit of question to this Baffling stimulus-killing fiasco - Where’s the “this means the Government has been paying compensation for 14 months” money coming from? No. No prizes.

We flunked

Of course we flunked!

Seems our Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman declared he was “surprised and embarrassed”.

Personally, if they gave us a passing mark, I’d be “surprised” and… “positive our tax ringgits were used to bribe our way up that Open Budget Index”.

Interestingly, one key finding of the study is that “Less transparent countries share similar characteristics” -

• The worst performers tend to be low income countries and often depend heavily on revenues from foreign aid or oil and gas exports.
• Many poor performers have weak democratic institutions or are governed by autocratic regimes.

So, anyone up for the “this is an inaccurate reflection of how we do things in right-to-own-sovereignty-Malaysia, so go mind your own business” argument? Me neither.

Where the previous administration had no follow up, this one has a different but similar theme…

And the theme is postponement.

And the bug is contagious. GST consultations for industries that were supposed to happen in December got pushed to January and then, February. In the month of February, the dates were flying about all over the already short month and now, there’s talk that some sessions could be postponed again.

In the private sector, tax courses organised in Hong Kong got moved to Singapore and then postponed to another date “a couple of months” into the future (read: indefinitely). Locally, one training course was also postponed, with no tentative date given.

Do we even need to go into politics at this point? Why not? A certain party election was… [fill in the blanks, this is getting predictable] to March.

P.S. Notice how the Finance Minister is grinning from ear to ear in every single picture taken of him in the last couple of days? Eeee… beh tahan.

Update @ 11am: GST sessions postponed indefinitely… again.