Today is the Budget 2009 announcement. Below are the summary/highlights from the budget 2009, I may left out some points.
Income Tax deduction/rebate
• Personal annual income that below RM35k will have a rebate from RM350 increased to RM400.
• For those who have an annual income between RM35k and RM50k, the marginal tax rate will decrease 1% which is 12%.
• For foreigner and personal annual income that exceeded RM250k, the marginal tax rate also will decrease 1% which is 27%.
Tax exemption is given to employees on:
• Travel allowance for commuting to work provided by employers is given full tax deduction, while the employees receiving such an allowance are given tax exemption of up to RM2,400 per year.
• Interest subsidies on housing, motor vehicles and education loans. The tax exemption will be limited to total loans up to RM300,000.
• Mobile phones, as well as telephone and internet bills paid by the employer.
• Staff discounts of up to RM1,000 a year on company traded goods.
• Staff discounts on services rendered by the company, such as private schools providing free education to children of their employees.
• Up to RM2,400 per year on childcare allowance.
• Tax exemption on medical benefits provided by employers to include expenses on maternity and traditional medicine, namely acupuncture and ayurvedic.
• Effective from 1st Jan 2009, civil servants with a monthly household income of RM3,000 are eligible for a subsidy of RM180 per month.
Cigarettes/Electricity Bill
• Price increased on every stick by 3sen from 15sen to 18sen.
• Monthly electricity bills of RM20 or less will not have to pay for the period from 1st October 2008 to end of 2009.
Government servants
• A bonus of one-month salary, subject to a minimum of RM1,000 for 2008.and it will be paid in 2 installments which is in September and December.
• Effective from 1st of Jan 2009, government pensioners who had served at least 25 years upon retirement will receive a pension of not less than RM720 per month.
• For those household incomes that less than RM3k will have RM180 of children education allowance.
Transportation
• Starting from 1st of September onwards, road tax for taxi, buses and car rental and limousine operators will reduce to RM20 a year.
• A sum of RM35bil will be expended during the period 2009 to 2014 to improve public transportation.
Electrical Appliances and foods
• Reduce import duties on various consumer durables from between 10% and 60% to between 5% and 30%. These include blender, rice cooker, microwave oven and electric kettle.
• Full import duty exemption on several food items, which currently attract import duties of between 2% and 20%. These include vermicelli, biscuits, fruit juices and canned sweet corn.
Social Safety Net
• Eligibility criteria for welfare assistance under the Welfare Department, increased from a monthly household income of RM400 to RM720 for Peninsular Malaysia, RM830 for Sarawak and RM960 for Sabah.
• In 2009, RM50mil is allocated to build 1,400 new houses and repair 1,000 houses under the Housing Assistance Programme. Priority will be given to senior citizens, the disabled and single parents with many dependents as well as victims of natural disasters.
sevenjai
