Better to receive

When it comes to government hand-outs, announced most recently in the 2008 Annual Budget, the story is the same for me. I don't get the lion's share. A mouse's share is more like what I get. But then again, this is the year of the rat, so what was I expecting, anyway?

I do not get more because of the type of house I live in. It is as simple as that. The annual assessable value of my apartment is beyond $10k, so that puts me in the last bracket receiving the least. This happened before when I lived in a HDB Executive Apartment (EA). Then, those who lived in an EA did not get a single cent of the rebates for the Service and Conservancy charges that all HDB apartment dwellers need to pay monthly. I missed out on this not once but twice. I got fed-up and upgraded. Darn, I should have downgraded. The type of apartment one stays in in Singapore is critical to one's financial well-being come Budget time. Small is better - always. Not only do I miss out on the one-off cash grant, my son also got the least from the education grants because he, through no fault of his, lives with me - in a private apartment with an annual assessable value exceeding...oh, you get the point.

But the rebates on Personal Income Tax was good news. Although I haven't benefited much from the government by way of its annual Budget goodies so far, I do pay quite a sum in taxes every year - personal income, property, TV, GST, cinema, restaurants, airport... The government seems to be in every corner of your life, extracting any little money from you. Next year I hope that the Finance Minister will just cut the personal income tax percentage, period. Rebates are so old-fashioned, you know.

That's all I've got to say about the Budget. The rest, literally, doesn't concern me.


Image source: http://storage1.morguefile.com/images/storage/c/cohdra/lowrez/cohdragive1.jpg
Author: souldestine@cox.net