Increasing our Tax Burden

These are two news reports that show how taxes can be impacted by the actions of the authorities.

1. Penang councilors vote a salary increase for themselves. How would you like a 10% increase backdated to January 2004? This is a pure case of taxation without representation, as the people have no choice. How will they recover the extra costs? Be prepared for an increase in taxation, license fees and parking charges.If any such increase is necessary, it should be from January 2006 and perhaps a 5% increase would be more reasonable.

2. Then a court case had to be postponed as the evidence was not in court where two days had been scheduled. Perhaps one effective way to reduce such careless actions is to impose a penalty of RM1000 for each day of such delays. That will at least defray some of the costs of the parties concerned. The sum is shared between the court and the plaintiff or the defendant, depending on who is the culprit. Now if the court is the culprit, the sum is shared between the two opposing parties. This is one way to reduce the backlog in the courts and provide a tangible record of who is causing the court delays.