There are PRs who remain as PRs for more than 10 years with no intention of becoming Singaporean citizens. PRs who remain as PRs for more than 10 years should not make money from HDB. HDB is tax-payer funded and foreigners who have no intention to become citizens should not share the same benefits as citizens. It is fine if they make money from private property. But public property is a different matter. Very few countries have the generosity like Singapore which allow foreigners to buy public housing like Singapore. It is only right that Singaporean citizens deserve more privileges from our own government. Our Singaporean males sacrifice at least 2 years of their lives in NS. Our parents pay taxes. PRs' parents don't. They are like hot money who come in when the going is good and leave when the going gets tough. Should we allow them to profit from our HDB? Some complain that Singapore is a lousy country to live in. Such a high cost of living. They can live like kings back home. This is why they will never convert to become Singaporeans. Make as much money as possible in Singapore, then go back home and live like Kings. In this case, please respect my country and stop complaining during lunch time.
I have heard too many stories of PRs making money from our HDB. Here are the ways PRs make money from our taxpayer-funded money.
- Collect rental income from HDB flats when they found better jobs back home. 8 years ago, there were PRs from China who did that.
- Sell our HDB flats at a huge profit and make big money
- Enjoy subsidized new flats from our generous government when the HDB flat goes en-bloc.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Parliament on 1 March 2012 that the Government would have to find new ways to raise revenues after 2016. Here are some suggestions I would like to make;
- Impose withdrawal taxes of at least 30% on CPF of PRs when they leave Singapore. Withdrawal taxes are normal in other countries.
- Lower interest rates in CPF for PRs
- Higher capital gains tax on property sold by foreigners. For HDB which are public property, the capital gains tax should be as high as 50%. These are public-funded property. Foreigners should not profit from tax-payer funded property. In fact, some have argued that foreigners should not be allowed to own public property in the first place.
- Impose higher annual property tax on PRs. This is also normal in other countries. See Malaysia next door. After luring many Singaporeans into buying Iskandar properties, they are going to raise property taxes. However, I do not think it is fair that Singapore follow Malaysia in setting a floor price at which foreign-owned property can be sold. We have to treat foreigners fairly and not make money off them unfairly.
Taxes should be imposed on foreigners fairly. However, if they are getting the better part of the deal, like profiting from public property, Singapore has the right to impose hefty taxes on them.
Fair-minded Singaporean
TRS Contributor