\n\tDevelopment Expenditure<\/td> RM99 billion<\/td> RM95 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\nAs you can see from the table, the total budget for Budget Madani is slightly higher from the previous budget tabled during Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri\u2019s government, at RM388.1 billion. Just like its predecessors, Budget Madani is the largest budget in Malaysian history, beating out the previous record holder, Budget 2022 by RM56.1 billion.<\/span><\/p>\nIn Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim\u2019s speech, he lined out a number of initiatives that are designed to help Malaysians combat the issues plaguing them right now, such as the rising cost of living and food security.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>New taxes introduced<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nOne of the first things that the Finance Minister announced during the tabling of the budget is the implementation of a few new taxes, most interestingly the luxury items tax, which will affect items like high end luxury clothing or watches.<\/span><\/p>\nOn the subject of taxes, he also announced a tax adjustment for personal income tax, which sees a 2% reduction for the RM35,000-RM100,000 tax bracket, but an increase of 0.5 to 2% for tax brackets above RM100,000.<\/span><\/p>\nThis move is actually similar to the personal tax reduction announced in the previous budget. In which a personal tax reduction of 2% was announced forthe RM50,000-RM100,000 income bracket.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>A boon for PTPTN borrowers<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nFollowing that, Budget Madani also took some pointers from its predecessor in the initiatives for PTPTN borrowers, as Budget Madani included a 20% discount for PTPTN repayments for three months, starting from 1 March 2023.<\/span><\/p>\nAlong with that, PTPTN also received another boon in the form of a six months deferment of repayment for individual borrowers earning less than RM1,800 per month.<\/span><\/p>\nIn comparison, the earlier budget announced a 20% discount for anyone repaying their PTPTN debts in full.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>Women empowerment from a different perspective<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nCompared to Budget Keluarga Malaysia, Budget Madani took a different approach when it came to women empowerment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhile Budget Keluarga Malaysia focused on establishing women\u2019s role in the corporate sector with its initiatives, Budget Madani chose to focus on helping women reintegrate into the workforce after maternity leave.<\/span><\/p>\nA bevy of initiatives and incentives were announced to help women re-enter the workforce, such as an amendment to SOCSO to allow for a grant that will cover 80% of the individual\u2019s insured salary, a tax incentive to incentivise the establishment of nurseries in offices, and the development of 80 new KEMAS preschools.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>SMEs continue to win big<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nJust like in the previous budget, SMEs were given extra love and care from Budget Madani, with a host of initiatives to help SMEs regain their footing in a post-pandemic world.<\/span><\/p>\nHere are the initiatives introduced in Budget Madani for SMEs;<\/span><\/p>\n\nCorporate income tax reduction from 17% to 15% for the first RM150,000,<\/span><\/li>\nRM50 million allocated to build and upgrade 3000 small hawker stalls and kiosks<\/span><\/li>\nRM176 million to upgrade premises and facilities<\/span><\/li>\nRM40 billion in loan facilities and financing guarantees for SME entrepreneurs<\/span><\/li>\nRM1.7 billion in loan facilities for MSMEs and small vendors under agencies such as Bank Negara Malaysia, BSN, and TEKUN<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIn comparison, Budget Keluarga Malaysia introduced the same corporate income tax reduction from 17% to 15%, albeit for the first RM100,000 only.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>A very comprehensive budget<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nTo wrap it up, Budget Madani is trying to do more for the people – while implementing additional revenue streams for the government. A luxury tax, limited-scope capital gains tax, and increase in income tax on the highest earners are likely to have little impact on the average Malaysian. However, they may help with the government\u2019s goal of reducing the national deficit.<\/span><\/p>\nNow, as usual, it\u2019s time for us to wait and see how well this Budget serves the people.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What has changed between the two governments?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":55733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1026,271,293,216],"tags":[1023,303,982],"class_list":["post-55730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget-2023","category-economy","category-education","category-news-updates","tag-budget-2023","tag-income-tax","tag-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Comparing The Two Budget 2023s<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n