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http://www.asiaone.com/Business/News/My+Money/Story/A1Story20090407-133928.html
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
The New Paper
Do you know 43% of all taxpayers pay nothing?
By Larry Haverkamp (Dr Money)
TAX season is in full swing.
By today, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) expects 50 per cent of taxpayers to have filed their taxes.
They are due on April 18 if you file via Internet - as 90 per cent are expected to do this year.
When you pay taxes, do you know where the money goes? You'll be surprised. Here are some amazing tax facts that Iras was good enough to tell me about.
Fun fact #1
The Government budget is about $40 billion this year. That's relatively cheap since our GDP is about $240 billion. It means about $1 out of $6 - around 16 per cent - goes to run the Government.
In contrast, this year's US government budget is US$4 trillion ($6 trillion) out of a GDP of US$14 trillion. It comes to 29 per cent and that is just the national government. States and cities add even more.
Fun fact #2
Only about half of all taxpayers actually pay taxes. Iras told me it issued returns to 1.5 million taxpayers but only 850,000 - 57 per cent - had to pay any taxes last year. The rest - 43 per cent - had enough reliefs to fall beneath the $22,000 annual income threshold to pay taxes.
Fun fact #3
About three quarters of the $40 billion budget comes from tax collections through Iras. Most of the rest comes from other taxes like on cigarettes and liquor, as well as foreign worker and maid levies.
Fun fact #4
What do you think is the Government's biggest source of income?
It is company taxes which brought in $9.3 billion last year. It is almost one quarter of all taxes collected and the bulk of it - $7.5 billion - comes from the big boys: firms which earned more than $5 million last year.
Next was GST. It brought in $6 billion. In third place were individual income taxes at $4.5 billion, followed by stamp duties at $3.7 billion.
In fifth place was property tax at $2.1 billion.
Almost all comes from residential, commercial and industrial buildings. HDB property tax accounts for just 4 per cent of the total.
Do you want to bet on sixth place? Yes, it is gambling duties and that is a story in itself.
Fun fact #5
Have you ever wondered what is the biggest tax break in Singapore? We take it for granted and few of us even think of it as tax relief. It is CPF.
Money coming in and going out of our CPF accounts is tax-free. That is unusual because retirement accounts in most countries are only "tax deferred". It means money is tax-free going in, but you must pay taxes when you withdraw it at retirement.
CPF reliefs came to $6 billion last year, which is about $6,000 per household.
The next biggest is child relief, amounting to $1.6 billion. Did you know the amount has been doubled this year? It's now $4,000 per child.
Following that is earned income relief, averaging $1,000 per household. It totalled $1 billion and is given automatically.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
The New Paper
Do you know 43% of all taxpayers pay nothing?
By Larry Haverkamp (Dr Money)
TAX season is in full swing.
By today, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) expects 50 per cent of taxpayers to have filed their taxes.
They are due on April 18 if you file via Internet - as 90 per cent are expected to do this year.
When you pay taxes, do you know where the money goes? You'll be surprised. Here are some amazing tax facts that Iras was good enough to tell me about.
Fun fact #1
The Government budget is about $40 billion this year. That's relatively cheap since our GDP is about $240 billion. It means about $1 out of $6 - around 16 per cent - goes to run the Government.
In contrast, this year's US government budget is US$4 trillion ($6 trillion) out of a GDP of US$14 trillion. It comes to 29 per cent and that is just the national government. States and cities add even more.
Fun fact #2
Only about half of all taxpayers actually pay taxes. Iras told me it issued returns to 1.5 million taxpayers but only 850,000 - 57 per cent - had to pay any taxes last year. The rest - 43 per cent - had enough reliefs to fall beneath the $22,000 annual income threshold to pay taxes.
Fun fact #3
About three quarters of the $40 billion budget comes from tax collections through Iras. Most of the rest comes from other taxes like on cigarettes and liquor, as well as foreign worker and maid levies.
Fun fact #4
What do you think is the Government's biggest source of income?
It is company taxes which brought in $9.3 billion last year. It is almost one quarter of all taxes collected and the bulk of it - $7.5 billion - comes from the big boys: firms which earned more than $5 million last year.
Next was GST. It brought in $6 billion. In third place were individual income taxes at $4.5 billion, followed by stamp duties at $3.7 billion.
In fifth place was property tax at $2.1 billion.
Almost all comes from residential, commercial and industrial buildings. HDB property tax accounts for just 4 per cent of the total.
Do you want to bet on sixth place? Yes, it is gambling duties and that is a story in itself.
Fun fact #5
Have you ever wondered what is the biggest tax break in Singapore? We take it for granted and few of us even think of it as tax relief. It is CPF.
Money coming in and going out of our CPF accounts is tax-free. That is unusual because retirement accounts in most countries are only "tax deferred". It means money is tax-free going in, but you must pay taxes when you withdraw it at retirement.
CPF reliefs came to $6 billion last year, which is about $6,000 per household.
The next biggest is child relief, amounting to $1.6 billion. Did you know the amount has been doubled this year? It's now $4,000 per child.
Following that is earned income relief, averaging $1,000 per household. It totalled $1 billion and is given automatically.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
