Increasing housing prices and tax burdens remain the top pressing concerns of middle-income families as they wait for Budget 2014 to be unveiled on Friday.
Accounts executive Rachael Yow, 25, and her husband Kaden Lim, 27, who have been searching for a suitable house since getting married a year ago, described current real estate prices as “totally out of our budget”.
“Newlyweds usually go out to buy houses. However, with escalating property prices, I think young married couples will have to still depend on their parents and stay with them for the time being,” she told The Star, adding they would suffer financially if they were forced to purchase a house now as some of the money could be saved for their children.
Homemaker Ju-Li Chuang, 43, said the Government must work with Bank Negara to come up with realistic financial policies for young wage earners to buy their first properties, as many faced difficulties in obtaining bank loans.
Chuang said she would also like to see the scope of tax reliefs broadened, while the limit of some reliefs must be increased to reflect current living standards.
“For example, the RM500 limit for broadband subscription and RM6,000 limit for life insurance and EPF are not enough,” she said, adding the monthly tax deduction (PCB) rate should be lowered as well while tax relief should be given for health screenings.
Events manager Kavita Subramaniam, 41, said the Government’s allocations for affordable housing in Budget 2014 should reflect policies that help both lower and middle-class groups.
“The Government must also provide allocations and incentives to support green initiatives, such as home farming, recycling and rainwater harvesting, which many of us are interested in,” she said.
Her husband, biologist Dr Sanath Kumaran, 46, said he wanted to see greater focus on research and development of renewable energy, with incentives to boost private sector investment.
Technical marketing engineer Ng Kok Hon said he was also for the lowering of income taxes to counter the current cost of living.
“I would also like to see the 50% stamp duty exemption on transfer and loan agreements for first residential property purchases to be extended to houses worth up to RM700,000,” he said, pointing out that a two-storey house today costs around RM600,000 to RM700,000 in cities.
