Malaysia Budget 2013 (Actual)

3 out of 6 predictions which were posted this morning are announced officially in today's Budget 2013. Let's have an overview for the Malaysia Budget 2013 as below:

For the lower income group,

• Under BR1M 2.0, RM500 will be given out to family with monthly household income lower than RM3,000. In addition, single unmarried individuals aged 21 and above, earning not more than RM2,000 a month, are entitled for RM250.
• 50% discount on KTM Komuter fares extended to all Malaysians with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below and who travel by KTM Komuter.

 For affordable housing,

• Affordable homes with cost between RM100,000 to RM 400,000 each will be built in key locations like KL, Shah Alam, Johor Baru, Seremban and Kuantan. The initiative will be implemented by PR1MA, Syarikat Perumahan Nasional Berhad (SPNB)and Jabatan Perumahan Negara
• PR1MA will provide the Housing Facilitation Fund totalling RM500 million to build houses in collaboration with private housing developers. The house prices under this programme will be 20% lower than the market price and distributed through an open balloting system.
• To enable more Malaysians to own their first residential property, My First Home Scheme, which was launched under the previous Budget, will be improved by increasing the income limit for individual loans from RM3,000 to RM5,000 per month or joint loans of husband and wife of up to RM10,000 per month.
• In a bid to curb speculation, the Government proposes the real property gains tax (RPGT) from the disposal of properties made within a period not exceeding 2 years from the date of purchase will be taxed at the rate of between 15% and 10% of disposal of property within a period of 2 to 5 years. For property disposed after 5 years from the date of acquisition, RPGT is not applicable.

 For government servants,

• One and a half months bonus for civil servants - of this total, half a month bonus was paid during the past Aidilfiltri, another half month bonus to be given end-of December 2012, and January 2013, respectively.
• Retired civil servants who had served the government for at least 25 years will now see their pension raised to a minimum of RM820 per month from the previous RM720.

For employees,

• Individual income tax rate to be reduced by 1 percentage point for each grouped annual income tax exceeding RM2,500 to RM50,000. The measure will remove 170,000 taxpayers from paying tax as well as provide savings on their tax payment.
• SOCSO will allocate RM200mil to enable its 1.4 million members to undertake free health screening in Government hospitals or SOCSO's panel clinics to detect non-communicable diseases.

 For young adults,

• Through the Youth Communication Package, a one-off rebate of RM200 will be provided for the purchase of one unit of 3G smartphone from authorised dealers. The initiative is for youths aged between 21 to 30 years with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below. A sum of RM300 million is allocated benefiting 1.5 million youths.
• Government will establish the Graduate Employability Taskforce with an allocation of RM200mil to strengthen employability of unemployed graduates under Graduate Employability Blueprint by end-2012
• The Government will allocate RM440 million to the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), to provide loans for trainees to undergo skills training
• PTPTN loans: Incentive - repayment of full loan from 1 October 2012 until 30 September 2013, a discount of 20% will be given on their loan. Regular repayment gets a 10% discount.

 For college & university students,

• 1Malaysia book voucher worth RM250 will be given to students who are studying at institutions of higher learning.