No tax for Individuals earning less than RM5,000

As long as you draw a monthly salary of RM5,000 or below, you do not have to pay a single cent in tax. I think it's that simple, but tell me if you understand it otherwise.

Truth is, it's not so. Those RM4,999 earners please don't celebrate just yet.

It seem that even mainstream media can be sweet-talking to keep you reading. Somehow I felt cheated after reading the whole article. A monthly income of RM5,000 would give you annual salary of RM60,000. In this year's budget (2012), if you earn less than RM30,000 annually, you do not have to pay tax. That works out to be about RM2,480 per month. Next year (budget 2013), that'd be RM5,000, or so it seem..

No tax for individuals earning less than RM5,000?

This could only mean one thing: You'd have to be earning double that threshold of this year's figure to qualify yourself to start paying tax. And that's a massive jump. But like I mentioned, it is not the case and you have to keep reading to find out.

I have appended herewith the article for your reading pleasure and clarification of what IRB meant to say.


No Tax For Individuals Earning Less RM5,000

Bernama via The New Straits Times. September 29, 2012

CYBERJAYA, Sept 29 (Bernama) - The one percent tax cut in the budget means that individuals with chargeable income under RM5,000 do not have to pay tax starting 2013 assessment year.

Inland Revenue Board (IRB) chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Mohd Shukor Mahfar said those with taxable income of RM5,000-RM20,000 will enjoy two percent tax compared to three percent.

"Individuals with taxable income of RM20,001 to RM35,000 will be taxed six percent compared to seven percent previously," he told reporters Friday night.

Mohd Shukor said the tax reduction takes into account all exemptions and not according to gross income. Those with queries about Budget 2013 and tax reduction can call the Customer Service Centre line 1-300-88-3010 or email at callcentre@hasil.gov.my.

The tax cut annouced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Budget 2013 means that about 170,000 individuals no longer need to pay income tax.


Source                     : Bernama, The Borneo Post, New Straits Times
Date of Publication  : Saturday, 29 September 2012
Related story           : No Tax For Individuals Earning Less Than RM5,000

The next-generation bionic eye - offers new hope to the blind

Earlier this year I wrote about LED Glasses that Help Restore Sight, developed by neuroscientists at Oxford University that allow visually impaired wearers to see once again.

Recently, as reported by the mainstream media, the medical science made some progress in helping individuals with age-related blindness. About 1.5million people suffer from such blindness, so, you may be interested in reading on.

How the 'bionic eye' works. Image captured from Daily Express Weekend Companion

The 'bionic eye'

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine in the US have invented an implant that could help the blind to see. The implant, which sits at the back of the eye, would help patients suffering from diseases in which photoreceptors cells in the retina slowly degenerate. It acts as an artificial retina, taking information from the outside world and converting it into electrical signals which a fed to the brain.

Several other 'bionic eye' systems have been developed previously, all of which have required coils, cables or antennae to be embedded in the eye to deliver power and information to the implant. But in this new system, near-infrared light is beamed to an implant made up off light-sensitive diodes. These convert the light into an electric current that's fed to the existing retinal nerves, reducing the amount of electronics that need to be embedded in the eyes.

"To make this work, we have to deliver a lot of more light than normal vision would require. If we used visible light, it would be painfully bright." says Associate Professor Daniel Palanker at Stanford.

Near-infrared (near-IR) light was the answer - it isn't visible to the naked eye, but it can be detected by the implanted diodes.

So far, the implant has only been tested on rats. But it has the potential to treat both age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the UK, and retinitis pigmentosa, which affects 1.5 million people worldwide. In both conditions, the retina's photoreceptor cells degenerate but the nerve cells in the retina, on which the 'bionic' implant relies, remain intact.

TheGreenMechanics: Let's hope that technological advancement is for the good of mankind, and not a showcase of military muscle that will eventually lead to confrontation.


Source: The Daily Express Weekend Companion, September 30, 2012, pp 13.

Homeowners can apply for Solar Rooftop from Sept 24

I wrote an article recently about SEDA Malaysia's target of 2,000 house owners to invest in solar power through the feed-in tariff incentive by the end of this year.

The good news has finally arrived. A couple of weeks ago The Star reported that owners of landed homes can start applying for the 2000 quota starting September 24, 2012. They can do this by applying through  the e-FiT Online System.

Roof top solar PV installation for landed home. Photo: Solar Power Buzz


The 2000 Solar Home Rooftop Programme

SEDA chairman Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn told newsmen that the authority would allocate 2,000kW of solar photovoltaic (PV) for the fourth quarter of 2012 and 6,000kW for 2013 to home owners interested in generating electricity from their rooftops.

“A directory of the solar PV service providers will be available at Seda from Sept 18 to assist home owners,” he said in a statement.

Dr Fong said the programme was open to only individual residents and each application must comply with the Renewable Energy (Feed-in Approval and Feed-in Tariff Rate) Rules 2011 and Administrative Guidelines under the Renewable Energy Act.

An applicant can only submit one application per day through the e-FiT Online System at efit.seda.gov.my. The e-FiT Online System was made available for public access since Sept 18 after going through system enhancements. - The Star Online, 14-09-2012


Programme Summary:

Programme            : 2000 Solar Home Rooftop
Period                    : 4Q of 2012
Organised              : Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA)
Quota                    : 2 MW (4Q, 2012) and 6 MW (2013)
Eligibility                : Individual residents
How to apply          : Submit application through e-FIT online system. One application per day.
Investment return    : Expected ROI of 6 years
Earning                  : Average of RM500 per month for the REPPA of 21 years


Bad news for those who have applied earlier

If you have applied online prior to this date, your application would have been 'flushed out'. Meaning,  your applications would have been deleted. This is because of what SEDA described as 'upgrading'.

The Star (Sept.14, 2012):

"...Badriyah (CEO of SEDA) also said applications for feed-in approval that were sent earlier have been flushed out due to the system upgrade. She also encouraged interested applicants and prospective and renewable energy developers to attend Seda's roadshows which will be held soon to learn more about the programme."

For me this is a bad move (or weakness) by SEDA. The approval/quota is on first-come-first-served basis and because earlier applications are flushed out, they lost their advantages for registering early.

TheGreenMechanics: If you are eligible and you have what it takes to get it done on your landed home, go for it. Simple as that.


Abbreviations:
SEDA       - Sustainable Energy Development Authority
FiT           - Feed-in tariff
REPPA     - Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement