MONEY MASTER

Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate US income taxes on Americans living overseas as part of his tax proposals in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign . His plan aims to simplify tax obligations for the estimated nine million US citizens living abroad, many of whom are currently required to file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and, in some cases, pay US taxes in addition to taxes in their country of residence. "I support ending the double taxation of overseas Americans!" Trump, the Republican presidential nominee , said in a statement, urging expatriates to register and vote Republican. This proposal would require congressional approval and, if enacted, would reduce paperwork and potentially lower tax bills for expats, particularly higher earners who face tax obligations due to current US tax rules. Currently, Americans making under US$126,500 aren’t required to pay US taxes, and many are eligible for tax credits to offset federal t...

Malaysia Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced a re-calibrated budget to be in line with the low crude oil price on the 28th of January 2016. Among the most debated issue from the new budget is the EPF contribution rate, either to go for the 8% or maintaining 11% contribution for the next 22 months. There is no right or wrong to go for either one as both options have own pros and cons. By opting for 8%, one will have additional 3% to help cushion the rising cost of living, or it can be used for loan repayment or investment; while maintaining 11% will have everything status quo and maintaining the retirement fund availability. Some argue that by opting 8% will end up paying more tax, but how true this statement is? To me, it depends on how the 3% is use. While I agree that spending the additional 3% on goods will end up paying more tax in the form of GST, I don't totally agree that opting for 8% alone will end up paying more tax. Of course, some might end up payin...

As the goods and service tax (GST) is officially implemented in Malaysia 2014, most Malaysians will finally have to pay tax from all income level. Paying more taxes definitely not good news for almost everywhere through out the world, but there is very small good news to the income tax payers, whereas the income tax rate for the year 2015 will be reduced by few points basis. The winner again, will be the high income earner - which is those who are earning RM400K and above because their rate drop although they might still argue that they will pay a lot more in the form of GST. The following is the comparison of the income tax rate before the GST implementation vs the post-GST.

It's that time of the year again....people knew it, expected it...but for some reasons, it's in the blood for us to procrastinate whatever that may not seem urgent to us regardless of the importance.  TIME TO FILE YOUR INCOME TAX Well, if you are like the many Malaysians out there, I'm pretty sure you have not completed your e-filing for your income tax . DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAX AVOIDANCE and TAX EVASION There are a lot of people who are confuse about tax avoidance and tax evasion. Most people assume that tax evasion is illegal, but let's not be ignorant...tax avoidance is also illegal although it carries a lighter punishment. Tax avoidance means failure to file for income tax without a reasonable excuse. It carries a lighter punishment of about RM200 to RM2,000 fine and/or imprisonment. WHEN YOU MISS THE DEADLINE? I know you are probably very confident of meeting the deadline. That's good news but just in case if you really do miss the de...

So, it's the time of the year again - the income tax season. For those who has already getting their salary deduction monthly through the PCB or Scheduler Tax Deduction (STD) , this is the time where you can claim back what you have paid in advance to the government. The purpose I am writing this blog post is to remind as many as possible to do the income tax filing as soon as possible; reason being, you will get your income tax refund faster and you will get the peace of mind of having something done before the deadline. There is still another 30 days to go before the deadline, so some might still been struggling to find or get receipts to prove their tax reliefs claim, but in my opinion, for those who are having taxable income in the middle of one tax bracket, those reliefs won't really affect much - unless the deduction brings you to a lower tax bracket. What is tax reliefs? It is defined as “an amount that can be deducted from a person’s annual income to reduce the amo...

I just get an email from my US trading account stating that my W-8BEN form is not going to be valid after end of Dec 2013 and asked me to resend them a new copy of the W-8BEN form. While I was filling up the form, I found that it is quite troublesome, if you do not know how to fill it up, so I guess it is best for me to blog about it, as a reference for myself in the future, as well as for reference for other Malaysians. What is W-8BEN form? You need to fill up this form if you have a trading/brokerage account in the US. If you don't fill this up, the super efficient IRS (Internal Revenue Services) will hunt you down, just like there is a saying "There are 2 things that are certain; death and tax". Anyway, just kidding, basically, if you don't fill this up, the IRS can hold up to 30% of your dividend, interest, royalty, etc. Basically , this rate is what the IRS can withhold for a foreign person. If you filled this up, you are excluded from this withholding provi...

We are now in another new year, or financial year and many of us are just 2-3 months for tax submission. However, there are just still so many of us who are questioning how our scheduled tax deduction (STD) or PCB is calculated as most of the time we are getting different deduction. It is not a surprise as majority working class are having fixed monthly salary, but at the same time on and off we are getting bonuses from our employers. These bonuses are the reason why we are getting different scheduled tax deduction on certain month when we have bonus. I posted twice on how these are calculated on Calculating PCB or  Schedular Tax Deduction (STD) for Salary and Bonus and How to Calculate PCB or Scheduled Tax Deduction (STD) for Salary and Bonus Anyway, since I'm still getting emails on the calculation, I will use the example from the email so that the reader can understand it based on his or her salary and bonuses. Assuming A is getting a salary of RM3,000 and have RM24 d...

Recently I have got a reader asking me on how to calculate PCB given the certain amount that he or she told me from my How To Calculate PCB or Schedular Tax Deduction (STD) for Salary and Bonus post that I have written in 2010. So, I guess it is time to refresh the blog post with the example that he or she gave me. Ok. Here we go. We are about to calculate the PCB given the salary is RM2,000 and with allowance of RM300 and the bonus given is 2 months. So we have the total bonus of RM4,000. Again, I will be using the PCB rate for single. The calculation is as follows:- Salary = RM2,000 EPF deduction = RM220 Salary for PCB calculation = Gross salary - EPF deduction = RM2,000 - RM220 = RM1,780 (this is also your net_salary when you want to calculate the PCB rate for bonus) (Again we need to take note: The maximum total EPF deduction allowed for PCB or STD calculation is RM500 (RM6,000 / 12 = RM500). If your salary is RM5,000 and above, just put RM500 under EPF deduction ) According to t...

While watching World Cup and with the pay day coming in within a week, I'm thinking maybe I should do some write up on how the PCB or STD (Scheduled Tax Deduction) is calculated monthly as this has been a question mark for me whenever I am planning the budget for the subsequent month. Most people will have doubt on how the PCB or STD is calculated especially during the bonus month. In fact, most of us will be anxiously to know the tax deduction to have proper view how much we can spend during that month. So, it is always best for us to know how the PCB are calculated so that we can plan ahead. Here is how our STD or PCB are calculated. Assuming person E is single and is drawing monthly salary of RM3,000 and contributing 11% from his monthly salary to EPF. Salary = RM3,000 EPF deduction = RM330 (Note: The maximum total EPF deduction allowed for PCB or STD calculation is RM500 (RM6,000 / 12 = RM500)) Salary for PCB calculation = Gross salary - EPF deduction = RM3,000 - RM330 = RM...

When you look at your payslip every month since the second half last year, do you realized that the Scheduled Tax Deduction, STD (or Potongan Cukai Bulanan, PCB) is higher compare to previously? I, myself realized that and after doing some research I realized that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) of Malaysia (or Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, LHDN) has come out with higher rate back then. This year again, we will have new PCB rate and the rate is lower compares to the 2009 PCB rate. Click the links below to get the rate for both PCB 2009 and PCB 2010 and do some comparison. Click here to download the PCB 2009 rate Click here to download the PCB 2010 rate I might be posting on how to calculate the PCB or STD in the future.