Wednesday, 5th November 2008
The budget: Who's up and who's down
The budget incentives will hopefully lead to a wider use of solar panels.
You win some, you lose some and the budget too had its winners and losers. Cynthia Busuttil takes a look at who stands to gain and who will lose out with the new measures.
Winners
Women
Tax breaks for new mothers and those who return to work after a five-year absence puts them among the winners. Women will also benefit from a national breast screening programme and the breast cancer drug Herceptin free on the national health service.
People with a disability
From next year they will no longer have to pay succession tax when inheriting the residence they live in. The government will also be paying for more facilitators for schoolchildren with special needs.
Host families
Their non-taxable income from rooming foreign students has been raised to €3,500 from €2,330.
Mcast lecturers
More than €13 million will go towards further education of Malta College for Art, Science and Technology tutors.
Environmentalists
With a budget described as green, environmentalists have a lot to be happy about. Apart from various fiscal incentives geared towards increasing the use of alternative energy by both homes and companies, the new car registration tax is based in large part on CO₂ and particulate matter emissions.
First-time home buyers
Buying a first home has become cheaper for those who pass a means test, with the government set to dish out up to 30 per cent of their loan repayments for 10 years.
Motorbike riders
Registration tax on motorbikes with small and medium-sized engines will be slashed by up to 95 per cent.
Commuters
The liberalisation of public transport provision and a new bus fleet by 2010 could, finally, mean an improvement in the service.
Families
The wider tax bands and €4.08 weekly cost-of-living compensation to workers should "leave more money in people's pockets", while the incentives to go for alternative energy and an advice service from Enemalta should help households cut down on their electricity consumption.
Importers of solar panels and photovoltaic units
With the incentives announced for both households and businesses, importers of alternative energy equipment will be expecting to see an increase in business.
Losers
Yacht and swimming pool owners
Swimming pool owners - both private and commercial - will have to pay higher licence fees while yacht licences will also go up.
Layabouts
Unemployed people who have been registering for work for more than five years will have to get active by working in the community.
Motorists
While those buying new vehicles might save some cash if they go for smaller, energy-efficient cars or motorcycles, they will have to fork out more money for fuel. Petrol has gone up by €0.055 per litre and diesel by €0.02, with the new duty going into a fund towards alternative energy projects.
Shops and supermarkets
With the introduction of a €0.15 levy on each plastic bag, shops and supermarkets will have to decide whether to absorb the increase or pass it on to their customers.
Smokers
The €0.20 increase on cigarettes' excise duty will mean an extra expense for smokers, although curbing the habit would no doubt be good for their health.
Sixteen-year-old drinkers
Now that the legal drinking age has been raised to 17, 16-year-olds will have to wait another year before clinking their glasses and having a tipple. Bigger losers will be the roughly one-third of Paceville entertainment outlets which cater to the younger set.
Employers
They will have to fork out an extra €212.16 for each of their workers every year after the government announced a €4.08 weekly cost-of-living adjustment.
Importers of non-energy efficient bulbs
Unless they start importing energy-efficient lighting, they could be losing their business after the introduction of an eco-tax on traditional bulbs and neon tubes.
Public finances
The deficit has tripled to €200 million, forcing the government to postpone plans for a balanced budget by 2010.
Almost everyone
The increase in water and electricity bills for the vast majority of businesses and households might not have been announced in the budget but has surely not been forgotten.
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Comments
I'm not sure what to make of your comment... Are you in favour or against? In my view, education is always a good thing, particuarly when were educating the educators!!! That's where it all has to start... Also note that in our University, (in some departments), there is a severe shortage of staff! Therefore new lecturers will have to be trained.
Is government really going to use taxpayers' money for the purpose declared above? There must be reasons for its doing so. I would like to be told what these are - honestly. Preferably before it comes out with the idea of doing the same for University lecturers and whatnot.
Does it apply to the Maltese climate? In summer it would transform a house into an oven.
"alternative energy sources"
These are still to costly to purchasel. I am also including solar water heaters with these. Malta's water contains a disproportionate amount of calcium carbonate, which significantly reduces the life of all water heaters, including solar water heaters.
Alternative energy is only a partial solution. There are other ways to reduce consumption. For instance, a computer left connected to the mains socket but turned off from the tower's switch, will consume energy! This can easily amount to 10W. In one year, such a computer would consume 87.6 KWH in vain. Similarly, a LED alarm clock can easily draw 5W. This too, amounts to 43.8 KWH. This can be extended to anything left in stand by mode.
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIENTIOUS EU, TO ATTACK THE MANUFACTURERS INSTEAD OF THE COMMON CUSTOMER. AFTER ALL, WE HUMBLE CUSTOMERS, ARE NOT THE DESIGNERS OF OUR INEFFICIENT APPLIANCES! WHY NOT USE A SIMPLE SWITCH WHICH TURNS THE POWER OFF COMPLETELY? WHY DESIGN THE STAND-BY MODE, APART FROM WASTING ENERGY?
The PV and wind generation systems, in my opinion, should have been extended to all those who wish to apply. Missing is the grid pay back rate; this is fundamental towards the economical pay back period. And it would have made further sense if the loan for these systems will be interest free and spread over 10 years.
The road tax on older cars has little to do with the environment but more to do with collecting extra revenue. Since all cars must pass the VRT therefore theCO² emission must be within the national specification. Further more who is going to check if the CO² reduction system on the new cars will be kept in optimum condition, since to maintain or change will cost a packet!
As regard fossil fuel burning our power stations will be the worst offenders! I agree that we must reduce energy consumption and we must protect the environment thus the example must permeate top to bottom!
The EU has imposed strict emissions targets and our country is way off. The government is helping us to make this change by countless schemes for solar water heater, photovoltaeic panels, wind turbines, double glazing and energy saving lights.
Whoever does not wish to benefit from these schemes has got no one to blame except oneself. The future is clear and everyone agrees on it. The useage of fuel, whether its power stations, factories or cars, has got to stop because the ozone is being seriously damaged. We are living the results of the damage right now. High temperatures in November is definetely a bad sign. Furthermore, most fuel resources will dry up within the next 3 decades. Change is inevitable.
Maltese traditionally resist change. However resisting change on this issue is not an option. We have to go through this transition and by hook or by crook we have to be pushed there.
Dr Gonzi promised to revise the pensions before the elections. I attended one of his meetings at a hotel in Attard where he gave an example of a judge earning some Lm 15000 a year and accustomed a lifestyle related to such income, than he retires and gets only Lm 4000.
Paying the full Social Security Contribution at the full rate for the past 30 years means I too lived a certain lifestyle and it is quite difficult now to exist on the present pension.