KUALA LUMPUR: Taxes must be fair to all and as such, high-income earners and businessmen should not be targeted by the government to avoid discouraging them from growing their revenue, says former Cabinet minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.
She said the “elite” group should not be targeted by Putrajaya merely on the assumption that they are rich.“If they have business and we pressure them, their business might be affected and people may be laid off.
“So don’t just look at the money; look at the added value of each business entity,” Rafidah told reporters after launching a book titled Fathers and Their Wisdom yesterday.
Rafidah also said Putrajaya should not introduce new taxes for the rich as a way to increase its own revenue.
“Income taxes itself are already enough. Don’t add on additional taxes that discourage them from doing business.
“They will be demotivated from expanding because the bigger their business is, the more we are taking from them,” she said.
According to Rafidah, additional revenue for the government can be generated via good governance and anti-corruption measures. “The corruption culture is rampant because we don’t have a system that gives us periodic feedback on expenditure,” she said.
Rafidah said every government agency and department should track its respective allocations in order to prevent wastage.
“There should be a periodic feedback mechanism to catch any misappropriation of funds early on.”
“This can be done every three or six months and not five years. Currently, we don’t have this type of system in place,” she said.
Rafidah also proposed that Putrajaya carry out a cost-benefit analysis over its plans to implement targeted subsidies next year to ensure that the aid goes to those who truly qualify for it.
“The implementation (of the targeted subsidies) must be targeted at the right people,” she added.
Budget 2025, which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat last Friday, outlined that the targeted subsidy mechanism for RON95 petrol will be introduced in the middle of next year.
