There’s one simple truth to economics; prices rise over time. There’s no use raging against it, that’s just how stuff works. Pratas used to be 30 each in the 90s. Now they’re a dollar (more in some places) a pop. It’s all due to inflation, the rising costs of labour and materials. It’s what GST is meant to tax.
The Government uses GST to increase the nation’s GDP and as a constant, reliable supplement to the nation’s income. It’s easy to administer and track (certainly much easier than Income tax), which means it’s more reliable with less chance of tax evasion.
The need to be angry at paying more tax is understandable.
After all who wants to pay for more money, right? Plus, since GST is uniform, it hits everything from daily essentials to luxury goods. It’s a bit unfair when you think of it that way, especially for those lower income families who don’t have the extra resources to spend.
In that light, yes, it might be an imperfect solution but today’s Budget 2022 announcement should hopefully have tons of aid for those in that income bracket. It might not help a lot but a little help is still better than none.
Keeping GST rates as they are now is just not feasible because a lower tax rate would mean a lower income as the costs of everything else rises. That would inevitably lead to a drop in quality of life in Singapore…which benefits nobody.
It would mean a cut in funding for social services and assistance for the needy, it would mean a drop in healthcare standards…It’ll cause a domino affect that will impact every aspect of every Singaporean life.
In the end, while a GST increase is an annoyance, it is something that we should accept and live with. This isn’t the first time it’s going up and this won’t be the last.