KUALA LUMPUR: The introduction of a 2% tax on dividend income above RM100,000 received by individual shareholders and the targeted subsidy of RON95 petrol for the top group of T15 is not a reason to describe the Budget 2025 as a ‘Robin Hood Budget’.
Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) said although some irresponsible parties described the budget as ‘robbing the rich to give to the poor’, it was actually the government’s efforts to address inequality and reduce the disparity.
“The country cannot succeed and progress without mobilising all the energy and contributions of the people, not only the B40 and M40 groups but also the T20 group.
“(The government) is not just imposing a penalty tax on the rich but asking the fortunate to help the weak, and poor. This is the aspiration of the Unity Government which includes all the people regardless of race, religion and background,” he said during debate on the Supply Bill 2025 in Dewan Rakyat today.
He said in the framework of determining the monthly income limit for T15 households for the subsidy, it should reflect the living wage and should be set inclusively in the range of RM15,000 per month.
Lim said the T15 group should not be labelled as uber (top) wealthy because they contribute to the economy through corporate social responsibility and tax payments.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling Budget 2025 said the government would implement the RON95 subsidy target in the middle of next year, with the T15 category not enjoying the subsidy.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) urged the government to immediately announce the true definition of the T15 group to put an end to the concerns of some people who want to know if they belong to the group.
He said this was because based on the 2022 survey of household income data (HIS) by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the top 15% of incomes in Malaysia started with RM13,295 and above.
“If this is true, the definition of T15 as the richest is very unfair, especially for those who only have a household income of RM13,000.
“I don’t want to defend this super-rich but imagine a corporate figure who belongs to the T15 category, while a DG48 teacher couple who has taught for 12 years will definitely get an income of more than RM13,000, is this fair?,“ he asked.
Therefore, Wee suggested that the government impose a petrol levy on T15 when they renew the road tax for vehicles priced at RM300,000 and above instead of implementing the two-price method for the RON95 subsidy which can complicate petrol stations and the other 85% of consumers.
Meanwhile, the issue of ‘war on sugar’ also received attention during the debate with several MPs including Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau), Wong Shu Qi (PH-Kluang) and Zahir Hassan (PH-Wangsa Maju) expressing support for the effort through the government’s move to increase the excise duty rate for sugary drinks in phases by 40 sen per litre starting Jan 1, next year.
Puah suggested that the government consider removing sugar from the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act in the future, which would help the government save RM500 million a year.
“These savings can be used for national health expenditure… It is time for the government to take this health issue seriously by changing the lifestyle of the people so that health facilities are not overloaded with obese and diabetic patients,“ he said.
Wong also raised whether the measure would also include the sale of sugary drinks at locations other than supermarkets such as stalls and night bazaars which is normally a favourite location for people to seek sugary drinks with excessive sugar content.
