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Budget 2020 – Full of goodies or full of relief measures?

Posted by Edgar on February 8, 2020 in Uncategorized

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ST 30 Jan 2020 / ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Will the “Election Budget” of 2020 supposedly to be laden-full with goodies be changed to virus relief measures?

Sharon See of BT today has noted the possible change in tone and texture given the emergence of the Wuhan coronavirus and disrupting much economic activities.

Back in April 2003, the govt then announced a Sars relief package to the tune of S$230 million.

Picture – Minister Lawrence Wong and Minister Chan Chun Sing speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a press conference on the Wuhan coronavirus, on Jan 30, 2020.

 

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SBF’s wishes for Budget 2020 – as per industry survey

Posted by Edgar on February 8, 2020 in Uncategorized

ST JAN 14, 2020

Both large and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), rank corporate/income tax rate reduction and rebates to help upskill staff as the top two priorities for Budget 2020 based on an annual National Business Survey conducted by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

The survey was released on Tuesday (January 14) and was carried out from August 26 to October 25 among 1,000 companies.

The three top challenges for local businesses for this year were identified as :-

  • manpower costs (67%),
  • business competition (62%) and
  • finding new or better ways to grow revenue (56%).

Other key concerns for 2020 include :-

  • rising business costs such as for rental and raw materials, rising wages,
    the uncertainties created by the US-China trade tensions and;
  • China’s economic slowdown.

Despite the uncertainties, Singapore businesses continue to venture out and expand overseas.

SBF chair Teo Siong Seng said it remains a critical strategy for access to new markets, diversify their supply chains and to support sustainable growth, given the limitations of Singapore’s small domestic market.

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Aware’s wishes for Budget 2020 – to give caregivers of elderly family members a monthly income

Posted by Edgar on February 8, 2020 in Uncategorized

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ST 13 Jan 2020

  • Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) said in a Budget wishlist it had sent to government feedback unit Reach on January 10, 2020, that caregivers for older family members be given a monthly income regardless of whether they are working which could be based on a 2018 study.
  • Its other recommendations include:
    • Funding an income scheme, which it referred to as universal basic income (UBI)
    • Giving caregivers grants with a cash and a Central Provident Fund (CPF) component
    • Shorter working hours, and
    • Making healthcare benefits universal for all older persons
  • Aware said that the “policy wishlist” is built based from the combined effort of caregivers, students, parents, academics, retirees, social service workers and business owners

Photo – Timothy David ST

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When is Budget 2020?

Posted by Edgar on February 8, 2020 in Uncategorized

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Jan. 1 that Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat will deliver the 2020 Budget Statement in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb. 18).

There will be live television and radio coverage for the said Budget Statement

A live webcast will also be available on the Singapore Budget website.

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Understand the risk and governance issues of $33m mess

Posted by Edgar on August 3, 2019 in Sg General

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Here in the early morning to do an “autopsy” review of Allied Technologies ie. understand risk and governance lessons from the $33m debacle.

As usual, I like to sit at the front. To be close to the action 🙂 Here are my notes from the session. Thanks to ISCA and Deloitte for hosting the event.

1. Should SGX “frown” at directors who jumped ship at the first sign of trouble? Directors’ resignation and senior mgt team turnover could be used as an indicator of some underlying troubles within a company.

2. Applying the reasonable person’s judgement between our ears in understanding any issues.

3. Have we held enough of such autopsy sessions on the many corporate governance deficiencies happening in many of corporates here? Should such discussions be indemnified against legal repercussions if the intent of such sessions is for the better of Singapore?

4. Conformance and / or Performance?

If a listco is unable or unwilling to keep up to the standards required, perhaps it should consider delisting and free itself of public accountabilities.

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Edgar Wong on “The WorkDay”

Posted by Edgar on June 29, 2019 in Sg General

2019-04-16_17-48-20 Workday - interview by Howie LimEdgar Wong of Asiaf1rst, was interviewed by Howie Lim, Senior Producer/Presenter, Money FM 89.3 on 16 April 2019.

Here are some of the talking points:-

  • What are the trends driving disruption in the accounting industry?
  • What is the future of accounting firms?
  • How can accounting firms help their clients embrace disruption?
  • Does every small business need an accountant?
  • Common small business accounting challenges?

Click HERE for a listen.

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Tax Exemption Scheme for New Start-Up Companies

Posted by Edgar on June 19, 2019 in Corporate Income Tax

For the first two Years of Assessment (YA), client (a company) has a single corporate shareholder. This would mean that client did not qualify for full tax exemption.

For the 3rd YA, its corporate shareholder sold its shares to two individuals on the very day of the basis period.

Question – Does the client qualify for Full exemption for 3rd YA?

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Making sense of financial statements amid rule changes

Posted by Edgar on June 14, 2019 in Accounting Standards

img20190614091422In ST’s “Making sense of financial statements amid rule changes” by Reinhard Klemmer, highlighted the changes since 2018 and the consequential impact of these changes.

What are the changes? ——————————————————————-

i) In 2018, Singapore transitioned from local to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), also known as Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (International) (SFRS (I)).

Applicable to all listed companies issuing equity or debt on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

ii) Secondly, all Singapore companies have to adopt the new accounting standards for Revenue (SFRS 115) and for Financial Instruments (SFRS 109).

What are the consequences? ———————————————————–

i) The transition to SFRS (I) allows for some flexibility in accounting choices that companies can use. This could result in diversity in practice and a lack of comparability of financial statements; and

ii) The move towards fair-value accounting requires significant judgments and estimates to be included in the fair-value adjustments. Most of these unrealised changes in fair values are recorded directly in the income statement, without a clear distinction between realised and unrealised components.

As such, users are finding it difficult to understand and analyse the underlying performance of the companies.

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Did you FORGET to register for GST?

Posted by Edgar on May 21, 2019 in GST

Apparently, a tuition centre and second-hand car trader conveniently forget to register for GST!!!

The law says, “All businesses, including individuals deriving income from their trade, profession or vocation, should closely monitor their income and regularly assess if they need to register for GST. If their past 12-month taxable turnover has exceeded $1 million at the end of any calendar quarter, they are required to apply for GST registration within 30 days.”

Who are the Guilty parties? And what is the punishment? Prison?

  1. Ideas Ink School Pte Ltd (“Ideas Ink School”), a tuition centre, and its two company directors and brothers, Pek Kim Beng and Pek Kim Yew, were convicted for tax offences. Ideas Ink School was sentenced to a penalty of $7,645 and a fine of $2,000.
  2. Tay Soon Suan, 74, the director of Gunong Djati Credit Pte Ltd and Gunong Djati Trading Co Pte Ltd in Upper Serangoon Road, was also fined $6,000 along with a $68,464 penalty for a similar tax offence.

 

In addition to the GST violations, Pek Kim Beng and Pek Kim Yew also admitted to omitting their salary income to evade income tax.

Chee Mee Yen, Ideas Ink School’s bookkeeper and mother of the company directors, helped to prepare the income tax returns for the two directors, with investigations revealing that the cash salaries were omitted.

Sources – http://www.iras.gov.sg and Straits Times

 

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Singapore’s success as a Business Hub

Posted by Edgar on April 7, 2019 in Sg General, Uncategorized

2019-04-04_9-53-11 ST - 3 Factors for Sg to be a successful bizhub

Hi Peeps,

Here is some recent news of foreign companies doing business in Singapore and thru’ Singapore.

In Seow Bei Yi’s article in Straits Times dated 4 April 2019, Chan Chun Sing, Minister of Trade and Industry cited 3 factors behind Singapore’s success as a Business Hub.

1. Integrated South East Asia,
2. rules-based trade system and,
3. domestic capabilities.

Well Sg does have more positives than that. We look forward to working with you and you team to extend your business into Asia.

Source – Business Times 5 April 2019

2019-04-05_10-05-35 BT - Sg ideal for European companies

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