2PC TAX REDUCTION
In tabling the budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said BR1M would continue to be given to seven million recipients with an allocation of RM6.8 billion, with a maximum payout of RM1,200.
Another relief to help ease people’s burden was the RM3.9 billion allocation to subsidise goods and essentials, including cooking gas, flour and cooking oil that will be sold at Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia
Recipients showing their BR1M vouchers in Kota Kinabalu in March.
2.0 (KR1M) outlets.
“Beginning next year, 50 KR1M outlets will be upgraded to KR1M 2.0. The restructuring exercise will be expanded to 3,000 KR1M outlets in the next three years.
“The outlets will offer five basic items — rice, sugar, cooking oil, flour and cooking gas at below market price. Fifty branded items will be sold at a lower market price, too,” Najib said.
At the same time, the government would also allocate RM80 million for the Price Uniformity Programme in Sabah and Sarawak.
Another proposal that struck the right note was the government move to increase its contribution to the 1Malaysia Retirement Scheme (SP1M) under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to 15 per cent, subject to a maximum of RM250 per contributor
per year for a period of five years from next year to 2022.
EPF chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said, “EPF has always been at the forefront of social protection and we are concerned about the wellbeing of some 13.7 million Malaysians who are not covered by a formal or holistic social protection system.
“Therefore, we are pleased with this announcement as it highlights the government’s commitment to the overall wellbeing of the rakyat and strong support of efforts to increase the take-up rate for SP1M.”
Introduced in 2010, the SP1M is designed to cater to the growing number of Malaysians who do not have a fixed monthly income, but desire a retirement fund that can safely grow their savings.
Individuals may voluntarily contribute a minimum of RM50 into their SP1M account up to a maximum of RM60,000 a year.
SP1M account holders are able to enjoy the same benefits for EPF members, such as earning the same dividend rates on their savings and the RM2,500 death benefit. On the 1Malaysia Special School Aid, the Selangor parentteacher association president Datuk Azmin Mustam Abd Karim proposed the use of vouchers for the distribution of the RM100 assistance to 3.2 million students from families that earn below RM3,000.
“Parents who take the aid on behalf of their children must be responsible in utilising it for the right purpose,” he said, adding that by using vouchers, the government could prevent abuse of the allocation amounting to RM328 million.