Tax! Tax! Tax! For the Common Good

There’s been a lot of debate and discussion surrounding that on social media recently. For example, when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the T20 income group will not benefit from electricity subsidies and haj financial assistance, some people cried foul, saying that the T20 already pay the highest taxes so surely they deserve the highest subsidies from the government too. Similar conversations also took place when the government made the 2% tax cuts for the M40 and increased tax rates for relatively high-income earners by 0.5%. Many wondered why higher-income earners should pay more taxes. 

We discuss the importance of progressive taxation and if taxing the rich – the real rich – stifles innovation, with Ng Sze Fung, Research Officer, REFSA.