PARTI Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) has proposed several initiatives to ensure the survival of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For starters, its Economic Bureau chief Armin Baniaz Pahamin urged the Government to provide individual and corporate income tax exemptions for this year and the next, to ease their financial burden.
“The people’s primary focus now should be on their ability to support their families,” he stressed.
Amrin also urged the Government to increase the threshold of the Wage Subsidy Programme from the current 30% to 70%, to ensure employers retained jobs during this tough times.
“The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Ministry (Medac) had estimated that more than seven million Malaysians will become jobless if the current movement control order persists,” he noted.
Under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih), Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin announced various initiatives to rejuvenate the slugging economy last month.
Among them were the extension of the Wage Subsidy Programme and loan moratorium for individuals who have lost their income or got it reduced.
However, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz later clarified that the loan moratorium was not interest-free.
Eviction moratorium, Windfall Tax
Armin was unimpressed with Tengku Zafrul’s statement, adding it would not be helpful Malaysian MSMEs.
“An interest-free and automatic moratorium for all types of loan repayments must be introduced to help MSMEs get through these hard times.
“This is so as among the biggest costs of MSME businesses are rental payments, loan repayments, employees’ salaries and utility payments,” he added.
To prevent premise owners from victimising tenants. Amin urged the Government to impose an “eviction moratorium” during the pandemic period.
“Several countries like the UK and Germany have passed laws preventing this from happening. All rents should be exempt to ensure that nobody becomes homeless.”
To fund the programmes, the Pejuang leader opined the Government should consider imposing Windfall Tax on industries and individuals that have benefited from the crisis.
“And do consider implementing a more extensive Capital Gains Tax and Wealth Tax targetting wealthy Malaysians. In addition to helping the MSME industry, such taxes would also benefit the rakyat,” Armin explained.- July 12, 2021.
