Should CFOs Network Online?

Social networking on the Internet is all the rage these days, if the mushrooming of CFO-focused groups in sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is any indication. A simple search will turn up such professional groups as “Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Network,” “China CFO,” and “Super CFO” on LinkedIn and “Indian CEO, CFO, CA, CS, ICWA, CFA, Finance, Corporate & Legal Professional” on Facebook.

It’s the digital equivalent of the face-to-face networking that business folks have always done, whether in industry conferences, Rotary clubs, cocktail parties, golfing trips or other social occasions. Tech-savvy executives see e-social networking as an additional tool for this time-honoured rite, and also invaluable as a free marketing vehicle for the business and for maintaining business contacts.

Read complete article at Social Media: Should CFOs Network Online?

Cutting Free

自我追寻

在某些时段，想放弃安全的工作去追求自己的梦想。你怎样知道这是对的？而什么令这个决定更有意义？

来看看自由撰稿人Alexandra Wong 走过四年的心历路程。。

全文：The Star: Cutting Free

Social Networking at Work Costs Employers Big Bucks

So there you are at work with the computer right in front of you. The browser is already up because you were doing some research for your boss. What would be the harm in quickly checking in with Facebook or maybe Twitter? Then why not check your email. It will only take a few seconds more. Oh, but there's that quick reply you have to dash off to your friend. O.K., so what's the harm in spending just a few seconds more tending to personal matters. Before you close down your browser, you remember that you thought of a really funny status update you wanted to post. Back to Facebook. You'll be done in a jiffy. By the time you close down your browser, you've spent more than fifteen minutes not working — make that 20.

Your social networking activity could be costing your employer a lot of money. Morse plc, a U.K. company, released the results of a survey that indicated U.K. businesses are losing £1.38 billion each year because of their employees' use of social networking sites at work. I wonder how much would be added to that figure if you also included other online activities, such as checking email and shopping. Half of the 1,460 office workers who were surveyed admitted to spending "40 minutes on these sites each week, equating to just under a full working week being wasted each year by employees using social networking sites at work." They don't think they are as bad as their colleagues who, they reported (in a classic case of pot meet kettle), spend almost an hour a day on these sites.

By Dawn's Career Planning Blog
Read on: Surfing the Net on Your Boss's Time

Tribalisation of what?

如何让你的社区产品更有价值

在线社区已经成为目前最主要的网络应用之一，很多企业和组织都建立了相应的在线社区，但如何才能让你的在线社区为你产生更多的价值呢?最近一项名为“The 2008 Tribalization of Business”的研究针对这个问题，对140多家拥有在线社区的不同的组织进行了调查。

2008 Tribalization Of Business Study

研究的结果显示，在线社区对于这些组织最大的价值在于增加口碑(35%)、增加品牌认知(28%)以及增加客户忠诚度(24%)。毋庸置疑，网络社区对企业来说是一种有效的营销及客户管理工具。

而阻碍在线社区这种工具产生它应有价值的最主要因素，既不是技术也不是资金，而是如何吸引用户(51%)、如何增加管理社区的时间(45%)。

而在调查中，这些组织认为在线社区的重要元素包括：类似人群的连接能力(54%)、可以帮助他人(43%)、是否有热点话题(41%)、社区管理的质量(33%)等等。

本次调查还发现了一个有趣的现象，就是这些组织建立这些社区的初衷和他们实际的实施内容普遍存在着差异。

所有的调查结果都表明，已经建立的大部分在线社区都能为企业带来不可忽视的价值，其很多企业本身也已经意识到在线社区的重要性。但是在具体实施的过程中大部分还缺乏经验，策略和方法的选择有很多不确定因素。

这里的问题可以尝试用这两种对策：

首先是专职人员的配备。 目前大部分企业中和在线社区相关的工作，都是由市场部门的人员来兼任或者索性是外包。对公司品牌和产品的了解和对网络社区文化的专业知识是在线 社区的管理人员必备的条件。这样，公司内有专门的人来负责这部分工作才是一个比较好的解决方案。关于这方面的内容，也可以看看Mr.6最近写的一篇关于“社群经营经理”的文章。

其次是新技术和新服务的运用。随着网络服务平台化和各种数据的不断开放，有很多问题也可以通过技术来解决或者改善。例如Google OpenSocial、Facebook Connect等等都将可以帮助企业非常方便的吸引用户、并方便的管理用户间的关系。即使企业没有特别高的技术实例，很多网站提供的各种便于使用的API 也可以帮助企业提高在线社区的互动性。

The Star: What does "tribalisation" mean in business?

Entrepreneurship requires four areas of mastery

There is a myth that entrepreneurs have special traits that distinguish them from other people or they have some sort of secret method to success. No entrepreneur, including Richard Branson, has a secret formula. Entrepreneurship is not easy. But, it can be learned and should be taught to everyone.

Based on a research of 500 entrepreneurs, they found four areas of similarities among the majority of successful entrepreneurs: personal mastery, business mastery, entrepreneurship mastery and leadership mastery.

The key to personal mastery is self awareness. The best entrepreneurs know what their strengths are and they leverage on them. In addition to knowing oneself, the best entrepreneurs learn from an early age how to create, communicate, influence, and develop their personal effectiveness.

Business mastery is the ability to think strategically, understand industries, new trends and changes and innovate in new spaces. Business mastery is about developing “a vision of extraordinary possibility.

Entrepreneurship mastery is the technical skills needed, including the day-to-day mechanics of running a business, producing products, delivering services, making money and managing people.

The final key is leadership. And at the heart of leadership is decision making. Entrepreneurs must learn to make good decisions quickly. Entrepreneurs bounce back quickly and learn from bad decisions made. The main reason for most failed start-ups is leadership failure.

Likewise, many start-up leaders fail due to lack of leadership to engage, encourage and develop their employees.

To master these four areas requires learning and practice which many new entrepreneurs don’t invest in. Nearly 95% of all entrepreneurial efforts fail. If we closely study these failures, it is usually a lack of mastery in one or all of these areas.

Every great entrepreneur was once an amateur. There is an old saying that goes, “there are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who don’t even know anything is happening.”

It’s never too late to learn and become a person who makes things happen in this world. Yes, you can dream.

Source: Now everyone can dream by Roshan Thiran

Jam from kitchen to factory

小果酱 大生意

2002 年，当同龄人正在新潮的互联网上创业时，14岁的Fraser Doherty在他父母的厨房里开始学着用奶奶的秘方调制果酱。邻居们和教堂里的朋友们非常喜欢这些果酱的味道，便一传十，十传百，建立起了不小的名气。 Doherty接到的订单之多，单靠在自己的厨房里已经不能满足需求了。他便从一个200人的食品加工厂租赁时间，每月租上那么几天来制作他接到的订单。

到他16岁时，Doherty便离校退学开始全职果酱生意了。

2007年初，英国一家高端超市Waitrose找到了他，希望能在旗下的超市里出售Doherty的超级果酱 Super Jam。数月之内，Waitrose 184家超市的店面里，便出现了超级果酱的身影。这使Doherty和他的生意都上了一个新台阶。
于是，他从银行贷款5000英镑（约合9000美元）以支付日常费用和租赁更多的工厂时间，来生产三种品的果酱。Tesco超市也跟进了，将Doherty的超级果酱摆进了其全英国300多家店里。

去年，超级果酱销售额高达120万美元，比2007年猛增60％。目前排队等待上架的超市包括英国Asda沃尔玛、爱尔兰的Morrisons和Tesco。

2008 年，Doherty有力量了，便开始了一个超级果酱茶会的公益活动，目前已经举办了100多块。主要是为苏格兰、英格兰和威尔士在家独居的老年人或老人院里的老人组织歌舞活动，并提供饮料。今年，Doherty准备将超级果酱打进全英国最大的食品连锁店。其生意合理估值约为100万美元至200万美元之间。

对一个20岁的年轻人来说，能做到这样真是不氏是。Doherty对其他年轻的创业家的建议是：对冒险有自己的想法，享受冒险的过程吧。

Forbes: Jam, from kitchen to factory

The First Million at age 20

在20岁前挣100万

Ephren Taylor。这位泰勒同学是个游戏迷，买得起任天堂游戏机，但买不起游戏。所以在1994年他12岁时，他决定自己写游戏。于是每天下学后都到公园去读一本书，Andre LaMothe写的《怎样在21天内做一个视频游戏》（没有家庭作业就是好啊）。几个月后，他写出了自己的第一个游戏，情节是射杀想绑架总统的坏蛋（读游戏书也能这么爱国！）。然后他以每份10美元的价格卖给了30个朋友。

这仅仅是开始，当泰勒同学 13岁时，习惯自学的他开始设计网站。然后在聊天室等地方推广，通过电话（当然是压低声音假装成熟）和经纪人谈价格。最初报价每建一个站200美元，后来发现竞争对手相同的服务报价几千块时，他也突破了这个价格。一般是经纪人拉活，完工后客户直接把支票寄给泰勒。“当我收到一张从卖维他命和营养品的网络商店寄来的3800美元支票时，我父母以为我肯定是在贩毒。”


16 岁时，泰勒拉了好友Michael Stahl入伙，他们建了个招聘网站，专门面向高中生和大学生。他们把当地的记者叫来开了个新闻发布会，说要开张新生意。报道一报，立刻为网站吸引来了3 万个访问者。他们的定价这次还是有点低，每个招聘信息收费38美元。不过很快他们发现必胜客、花旗集团这些大公司为了招募到年青人才愿意付比这贵100倍的价格。于是这俩家伙就租了办公室，雇了他们以前的历史老师。2001年该网站在互联网泡沫破灭中应声倒下，不过最辉煌的时候，网站估值达350万美元。

现在，26岁的泰勒经营当地一家控股公司，投资一些社区相关生意，比如克立夫兰和堪萨斯市的低成本住房等。此外，他还担任City Capital公司的CEO，抽投资旧城改造和油井等生意。另外，一年他还要做70多场演讲，每场8000美元。

Forbes: Video-game design; Web-site design; job-posting site for teens

Tax filing for sole proprietorship 03

SOLE proprietors can optimise their taxes by taking capital allowances on business assets into account.

Fixed assets: Fixed assets acquired for use in the business are eligible for tax relief in the form of capital allowance. Capital allowances are deducted from the adjusted income of a business to arrive at statutory income. Depreciation on fixed assets is not tax deductible.

Newly acquired assets will be given an initial allowance of 20% and annual allowance of 10%, 14%, 20% or 40%, depending on the asset category.

The capital allowance amount is computed on a straight-line basis by reference to the cost. Full capital allowance is given even though it is acquired and in use for less than a year.

The cost of the asset includes alteration costs and incidental costs for the installation of fixed assets.

Small-Value Assets: With effect from YA 2006, where the sole proprietor acquires fixed assets (small- value assets) which are not valued at more than RM1,000 for each asset, the full cost of the asset enjoys capital allowance in a year (100% cost = capital allowance).

The maximum capital allowance allowed for small-value assets in a year is restricted to RM10,000.

To optimise tax planning, the acquisition of fixed assets like printers, telephone systems, fans, calculators and kettles should be staggered to reduce taxable income.

Capital allowance is given on a year’s basis even if it is acquired and in use for less than a year. Sole proprietor may consider accelerating the acquisition of small-value assets in November/December 2008 instead of January 2009 as capital allowance is available in YA 2008 to reduce taxable income.

Motor vehicles: Motor vehicles used in business are entitled to capital allowances.

The qualifying cost eligible for capital allowance is restricted to RM100,000 provided:

·it is a newly acquired car; and

·the cost does not exceed RM150,000.

Other motor vehicles which do not satisfy the above two conditions will be given qualifying cost of RM50,000 even if the actual cost may have exceeded RM50,000.

Capital allowance can be claimed on the full cost of commercial vehicles, which are motor vehicles used directly to transport trading stock, such as lorries and vans.

Other motor vehicles used in the business are known as passenger vehicles, which are restricted to a maximum cost of RM100,000. These are used in business to meet customers, bankers or suppliers. To maximise claims on passenger vehicles up to RM100,000, the sole proprietor has to ensure the cost of the new motor vehicle does not exceed RM150,000.

Personal fixed assets: Sole proprietors may transfer personal assets for use in their business. Once such assets are used in the business, capital allowance is then available.

The sole proprietor has to first establish the market value of the assets at the time they were brought into use in the business. The assets will then be recorded in the balance sheet of the business.

Annual allowance is given on the market value of these assets, but no initial allowance is allowed.

In the event that the sole proprietor continues using the assets for personal use, the portion of such personal usage must be excluded and no capital allowance is available on that portion.

Details: Tax planning for business assets

Tax filing for sole proprietorship 02

SOLE proprietors should take advantage of allowable business expenses and deductions on bad debts to reduce their taxable income.

Business expenses: Revenue expenses incurred directly in the production of business income are tax deductible against the gross income of said business and are commonly known as business expenses.

The general rule of thumb is that business expenses must be recurring in nature, permissible under the Act, have been incurred, reasonable and acceptable to a particular industry, and are not related to the acquisition of capital assets or expenses.

Other deductible expenses available for tax deductions include accounting fees, legal fees for recovery of trade debts, rental for premises, sales advertisement, entertainment expenses for trade debtors, and cash stolen from the cash register by cashiers.

Non-deductible expenses would include items like prepayment of insurance expenses for fire and theft; costs of renovation or construction for premises; fines imposed for traffic offences or custom offences; penalties on income taxes; donations to political parties, church or religious body; legal fees for bank loans or acquisition of premises; and legal fees for defense in suits for violation of trade regulations.

Mixed overhead expenses: Sole proprietors often have limited resources to acquire assets for exclusive business use. Therefore, personal assets such as motor vehicles, mobile phones, home offices and computers are mutually used for business and private or domestic purposes.

In such cases, a sole proprietor in a business has to segregate expenses incurred, differentiating between business expenses and private expenses. Items such as petrol, repair and maintenance on vehicles, telephone charges, Internet charges, house interest expense and utilities have to be apportioned into business and private expenses.

In practice, sole proprietors first need to segregate out the private expenses.

A reasonable and reflective basis has to be developed by analysing the actual expenses and usage for several months.

Once a basis is ascertained, the ratio will be applied on such expenses from year to year. The common basis from a practical viewpoint will be 1/3, 1/4 or 1/5 for private use, depending on the business industry and personal conditions.

Since the taxpayer is fully responsible for the tax computation in a self-assessment system, penalties on an incorrect return would be imposed if the taxpayer intentionally and purportedly claims private and domestic expenses as business expenses. This could amount to:

·100% of the tax undercharged

·a fine of RM1,000 to RM10,000.

Entertainment expenses: These are incurred primarily to maintain existing sales revenue or to increase sales.

Although entertainment expenses are generally 50% deductible, the following entertainment expenses are, however, fully tax deductible as specifically allowed by the Act:

·Staff amenities such as the provision of food and beverages in the office, annual staff dinners, company trips, and family days.

·Promotional gifts at trade fairs, trade or industrial exhibitions held outside Malaysia and for the promotion of exports from Malaysia.

·Promotional samples of the business’ products.

·Provision of entertainment for cultural or sporting events; open to public; wholly to promote business.

·Provision of promotional gifts; within Malaysia; consisting of articles incorporating a conspicuous advertisement or business logo.

·Provision of entertainment which is related wholly to sales arising from the business.

Public Ruling 3/2004 clarifies entertainment related wholly to sales as entertainment which is directly related to sales provided to customers, dealers and distributors but excluding suppliers (trade creditors).

Bad debts: Specific provisions for bad debts are tax deductible, provided they arise from credit sales (trade debts) and there are commercial reasons for such provisions. Bad debts arising from sales of fixed assets to other debtors are not tax deductible.

Bad debts written off on trade debts are tax deductible in situations where trade debtors are bankrupt, dead, have absconded or liquidated.

At the year ending Dec 31 and interim periods at March 31, June 30 and Sept 30, 2008, sole proprietors must analyse their trade debtors aging report to ensure immediate action can be taken on defaulted trade debtors and make continuing provision of specific provision for bad debts.

As the sale is assessed to tax on an accrual basis, the specific provision for bad debts can reduce business adjusted income. The particulars of the trade debtors must be recorded in detail and the reasons for the provision and the non-supplying of stock to them are to be compiled for tax audit purposes.

Specific deductions: The following expenses are tax deductible against gross business income even although they may be capital expenditure and only remotely connected with the business:

·Equipment like wheel chairs to assist disabled employees to work in business premises.

·Cash donations or in kind to public, college or school libraries up to RM100,000 in a year.

·Expenses incurred to maintain a child care centre for employees.

·Sponsorship of art/cultural or heritage activities approved by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry up to a ceiling of RM500,000 for local, RM200,000 for foreign and RM500,000 for combined local and foreign activities.

Double deductions: The following expenses enjoy additional deductions in arriving at adjusted income:

·Remuneration paid to disabled employees.

·Insurance premiums paid to a Malaysian insurance company on importing and exporting cargo or raw materials.

Details: Business expenses and bad debts

Tax filing for sole proprietorship 01

ACCORDING to the Companies Commission of Malaysia, the majority of the 810,150 registered companies in Malaysia are owned by sole proprietors or business enterprises.

These entrepreneurs are probably paying too much in taxes, since professional tax advice would be too costly for sole proprietors with a typical annual turnover of RM300,000 to RM500,000.

Here is how you can optimise taxes and avoid penalties by implementing permitted accounting standards, segregating trading stock from items for personal use and applying stock write-down and obsolescence policies.

·Sales/Revenue: Revenue is recognised once trading goods are sold to customers. In practice, the issuance of sales invoices are demarcation points for sales to be recorded in the accounts. For service industries, revenue is recognised at the point when services are rendered and completed.

Sales revenue at all times must be recorded at market price, which is the arm’s length or actual sales price between the trader and his customer.

·Sales recorded on accrual basis: Accounting standards in Malaysia require revenue to be recorded on an accrual basis. This means sales must be recorded notwithstanding whether it takes place on credit or cash terms; whether cash is received or not is irrelevant.

·Cash accounting: This is not a permitted accounting standard in Malaysia. Under the cash accounting basis, revenue is recognised solely based on cash received and there is no reference to the sale of goods or completion of services.

Sole proprietors computing income tax on this basis are considered as submitting an incorrect return and will be liable to a tax penalty of 100% and/or a fine up to RM10,000.

·Deemed sales for use of own stocks: Traders who wish to use their trading items (stocks) for donation, personal use or as gifts must record these items at market value, since Section 24(2) of the Act deems these as sales revenue. These transactions are treated as sales and the “profit” which was never earned is subject to income tax.

To avoid this situation, the sole proprietor has to request that the supplier invoice him separately on his personal account for the item that he intends to give away or keep for his own use. Do not bill the item to the business enterprise.

·Cost of sales: Trading stocks are assets to the sole proprietor and reflected in the balance sheet. The cost of trading stock is only allowed as a deduction against sales revenue when the stock is sold.

Excess unsold stock is an asset and not deductible. Sales quantity and the cost of sales must be identical.

The sole proprietor should develop a stock write-down policy to evaluate the quantity or quality of unsold stocks as the Act allows tax deductions for stock written down or stock write-offs due to obsolescence.

The stock policy has to be applied consistently for at least three years. Tax authorities may review such a stock policy during the tax audit.

The write-offs of the stocks or write down in the value of trading stock must reflect actual market conditions. Sole proprietors must record the details of such stocks and provide the specific reason why certain stocks are written off or written down as part of the documentary evidence for tax audit inspection.

Details: Revenue recognition and cost of sales

Slow recovery for global economy?

A NEW survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) shows that finance professionals are forecasting a slow recovery in the world economy.

The professional body says in a statement that the Global Economic Conditions Survey among 805 of its members in 80 countries reveals a slow and credit-constrained recovery that can threaten the world’s leading economies with stagnation.

It suggests that “confidence has been lost in the sectors and countries that were once the engines of world economic growth, and that the resulting decrease in demand and supplier credit may be causing much more damage than the banking sector’s new-found aversion to risk.”

According to the survey, the contraction in world trade has affected professionals in Asia-Pacific badly, especially in China. It has also resulted in a loss of confidence among professionals in the region for their Western counterparts.

“Despite this, accountants in emerging markets and the developing world are expecting the global economy to bounce back sooner – with African countries such as Botswana, Zambia, Ghana and Kenya having the most optimistic respondents,” the ACCA says.

The research also shows that hopes of an early recovery are underpinned by trust in governments’ responses to the crisis, with businesses having to play a part too.

Source: ACCA global economic conditions survey findings revealed

2009 BrandZ™ Top 100 Ranking

明略行Millward Brown Optimor于日前发布了第四年度的BrandZ全球品牌100强排名，其结果显示即使在目前比较恶劣的经济形势下，各大品牌仍有效地捍卫了它们原有的品牌价值。

BrandZ全球品牌100强排名以美元来衡量品牌价值，它通过结合两方面的数据来进行品牌价值评估：包括企业财务数据及BrandZ对消费者和企业用户的研究数据(BrandZ是当今世界最大的品牌资产研究数据库)。

前100强的品牌价值总值已达到了1.95兆美元(略微上涨了1.7个百分点)。其中，谷歌名列第一，价值1000亿美元;微软排名第二，价值762亿美元;可口可乐首次位列第三，价值676亿美元。

“在目前的经济环境下，很多企业的价值会有所下降，而此时，品牌会变得尤为重要，因为品牌能帮助公司在艰难时期坚持下去。”Millward Brown Optimor的首席执行官 Joanna Seddon这样说，“那些在艰难时期会继续坚持对品牌进行投资的企业，在经济状况好转时，会比那些现在削减品牌投入的企业拥有更强的优势。”

今年共有15个新的品牌进入排名。帮宝适在新晋者中名列最高，排名31，任天堂(排名32名)和VISA(排名36名)紧接其后。从今年的排名中可以看出这样一些趋势：

价值 — 那些以“物有所值”所著称的品牌表现优秀，这意味着质量与价格一样重要，例如：沃尔玛(+19%)、阿尔迪(+49%)和欧尚(+48%)。H&M(+8%)现成为了服装的第一品牌。

小腐败 — 人们即使在荷包紧张的情况下，仍不免偶尔奖励一下自己。比如麦当劳(+34%)、万宝路(+33%)以及百威(+23%)这样的品牌都表现不错。

居家 — 能在家里体验或享受的品牌显示了强劲的增长。这包括了在家购物(在线购物)：亚马逊(+85%)和eBay(+16%);能在家制作的咖啡：奈斯派索优 Nespresso(+27%)和雀巢Nescafe(+23%);以及游戏： 任天堂首次进入排名就跃居第32名。

无线 —通过iPhone和黑莓，在移动设备上使用互联网越来越流行，刺激了数据服务的需求，从而带动了移动运营服务这一产业的整体巨幅增长。沃达丰今年首次进入前十(+45%)。

明略行全球首席执行官Eileen Campbell就此排名发表评论说：“成为世界上最具价值的品牌之一是一项了不起的成就，我们祝贺所有榜上有名的品牌。在一个营销支出正遭受前所未有的严格审查的时刻，这个排名让营销者们能够证明品牌为企业所创造的价值”。


来源: 2009 BrandZ™ Top 100 Ranking

High time to refinance your loan?

WITH lending rates at historical low levels, the obvious question to ask is – should one refinance their home loans? The answer is simple – if there are net savings to be enjoyed by refinancing the existing loan, then yes. If the impact is neutral, then there’s little point going through all that hassle.

Two years ago, banks were charging home buyers base lending rate (BLR) “plus” interest rates for their housing loans.

Today, the BLR for mortgages has fallen to a “minus” level. In addition, then, the average BLR was about 6.75% which was later adjusted to about 5.55% currently.

The fall in lending rates followed the unprecedented cut in overnight policy rate (OPR) by Bank Negara Malaysia since November last year by 150 basis points to 2% as it stands now.

Over the week, the central bank paused on its rate cut, leaving the OPR unchanged.

This has led some economists to predict that there will be no more OPR cuts for the rest of 2009 and 2010 which may give borrowers a reason to lock in their interest rates for housing loans at current low levels.

If the economy stabilises by next year, analysts expect interest rates to rise. But the views are mixed as there are also analysts who feel that if the situation worsens, Bank Negara could further cut the OPR.

Dr Choong Kwai Fatt, tax consultant and associate professor at the Faculty of Business and Accountancy, Universiti Malaya, opines that now may be a good time to refinance home loans.

“For refinancing, we recommend customers to change to Flexi loan, which allows them to make additional repayment and draw balance at any time with convenience of automated teller machine cards and cheque books. In addition, any amount in the current account is used to reduce the outstanding loan amount, hence there are interest savings,” he says.

Typically, banks’ lock in period is about five years; customers who switch banks before this period ends will have to fork out a penalty fee which comprises 3% of total loan amount or loan outstanding or a minimum penalty of RM5,000-RM10,000.

The fees however vary from bank to bank. There are other costs involved in switching lenders as well such as search fees, inspection fees, stamp duty and loan legal fees (usually costs less than 3% of total loan).

It is important to note that all rates and terms and conditions are negotiable, and hence, vary on a case by case basis.

Details: High time to refinance your loan?

Easy Guide to Taxation for Employees 02

On short-notice payment and child-care allowance

Q: In November 2008, I voluntarily ceased my employment and had to pay short notice of RM2,000 (supported by an official receipt). However, I was compensated with a sign-in bonus of RM6,000 from my new employer.

The problem is the sign-in bonus is stated in my EA form but the short notice of RM2,000 is not deducted from the form. Can I automatically net off the amounts and disclose RM4,000 as my sign-in bonus because RM2,000 is my actual expense?

A: Sign-in bonus is capital in nature and not taxable in the event the salary that you receive subsequently upon commencement/exercising of employment with the new company is at the commercial rate. The amount is not to be included in the EA form.

However, if the sign-in bonus is in lieu of reduced salary, the amount is income in nature and subject to income tax. In this scenario, the amount is to be included in the EA form.

The amount paid by you as compensation for short notice of resignation is not deductible as it is not directly incurred in deriving employment income as you have stopped working in your old company.

My former company did not disclose my travelling allowance of RM1,500 in my EA form as tax-exempt benefits. Upon calling it, the company refused to issue a fresh EA form to me. What can I do?

Travelling/petrol allowance received by an employee for travelling from home to workplace and vice-versa is exempted up to RM2,400 while travelling/petrol allowance received for travelling in exercising employment, is exempted up to RM6,000.

In your case, if the amount is authentic and verifiable, even without a revised EA form, you may straight away deduct the amount from your total income reported in the EA form. The adjustment is at column C1 where, the amount is represented by: Total income (as per EA form) – travelling allowance incurred (RM1,500) = Total income from employment (C1)

I paid RM280 per month for my four-year-old daughter’s nursery in 2008. I understand that child-care is exempted from tax up to RM2,400 per year. Can I claim it (since I paid for it and it’s not an allowance)?

Child-care allowance of RM2,400 is tax exempted if provided by employer to staff. In your case, no deduction is available as such allowance was not paid by your employer. You have only incurred a domestic expense which is irrelevant in computing your employment income tax. Domestic expense is not deductible.

I sought treatment using the “Tui-Na” therapeutic massage for my left leg. The total cost of treatment was RM89.60. Can this sort of expense be treated as a form of medical expense tax relief under the traditional acupuncture and ayuverdic categories?

The medical benefit (including Chinese Tui-Na) is tax exempt provided it is given by the employer to the employee. Benefits cover ayurvedic and acupuncture effective YA2008. However, you cannot claim this expense when computing your employment income, since it is paid by you and not your employer.

If a self-employed person makes a contribution of 12% to the EPF under his firm, is the contribution deductible to the proprietor firm and is there any limit?

If you are earning business income as a sole proprietor, you may utilise the B form to submit your tax return. BE form is for individuals earning employment income. In both cases, the total EPF contribution by the employee or the self-employed person plus the amount of insurance premium paid are deductible up to the aggregate of both amounts (up to a maximum of RM6,000).

Where the employer is concerned, a Sdn Bhd firm is entitled to claim the EPF contributions for employees as a full deduction from their business income and the maximum contribution is 19%, as governed by Section 34 (4) of the Income Tax Act, 1967. However, for the sole proprietor, the amount is not deductible when computing business income.

How do I disclose interest subsidies on housing, car and education loans?

Interest subsidies on housing, education or car loans provided by the employer to the employee are all tax-exempted in full, provided the aggregate amount of loans from all of the above does not exceed RM300,000.

If you qualify for exemption and your documentation is verifiable, you may deduct the appropriate amount from your total income reported in the EA form. The adjustment is at column C1 where the amount is represented by:

Total income (as per EA form) – exemptions entitled (subject to maximum) = Total income from employment (C1)

How do I apply for retrenchment benefits for my husband?

As long as the compensation is given by the employer to the employee (your husband), he is entitled to claim the exemption. No prior approval from Inland Revenue Board is required. The computation is as follows: Employment income as per EA form – (RM10,000 x the years of completed service) = Total employment income (column C1 in BE form)

I understand that the payment of bonus/directors’ fees related to 2008 in year 2009 has the tax savings advantage of 1% if the annual income is RM250,000 and above. Please explain.

If the chargeable income is more than RM250,000, the tax rate is 28% for YA2008. However, the tax rate will be 27% in YA2009. Hence, if your bonus is disclosed in the EA form in 2009, you will save 1% since your chargeable income is assessed on 27% (YA 009) instead of 28% (YA2008).

Details: Tips on filing your income tax

Easy Guide to Taxation for Employees 01

Q: As a sales and marketing executive with a financial institution, I am paid a basic salary and sales commission and am not entitled to any claims (petrol, toll, parking and car maintenance). I use my own car to do my job. My average monthly expenses for sales and marketing activities are about RM500.

I understand that with the new provisions under Budget 2009, the employee is entitled to tax exemption for certain benefits. Since my company does not provide such benefits, can I claim marketing and travelling expenses under “Perbelanjaan Keraian”?

A: The actual amount you incurred can only be deducted provided that you received either entertainment or travelling allowances from your company. In your case, the amount you incurred is not deductible.

I understand that meal allowances can only be claimed for tax relief for outstation travel or overtime. I am being transferred to a branch in Klang next month from my present workplace in Puchong, and my employer has agreed to give me an additional monthly amount of RM800 as meal allowance.

Can I deduct my meal allowances since I reside in Subang Jaya and don’t do overtime? My working hours are 9am-5pm and I work six days a week.

Your meal allowance for employment in the Klang branch will not be eligible for deduction as it is not in respect of working overtime or travelling outstation.

What are the tax exempt employee benefits in relation to employees who have been given a fully-expensed company car and a company petrol card? I know that I will be assessed on the Scale Car and Fuel benefits for the use of the company car. For YA2008, am I entitled to the relief of RM2,400 for the tax exempt petrol card?

If so, can this RM2,400 be deducted from the Scale Fuel charge in YA2008 so that the Scale Fuel benefit assessed in the tax year will be lowered by RM2,400?

If (1) above is allowed and my actual petrol card expenses for the year exceed RM2,400, can the balance of actual petrol bills spent under the petrol card be deducted from the Scale Fuel benefit up to the maximum of exhausting the amount of the Scale Fuel benefit?

The benefits in kind with regards to the car benefit and fuel benefit are to be taxed. These cannot be deducted as additional tax exempt benefits.

Monthly parking claims and fixed mobile-phone allowances are submitted to my company at the end of the month and these will be reimbursed into our salary in the following month. These claims are subject to EPF contribution. Therefore, are they tax-exempt for YA2008 and do they need to be disclosed under the tax-exempt benefits in the EA form?

Both parking and phone allowances up to the actual amounts incurred which are borne by the employer are tax exempt with effect from YA2008. The amount is to be disclosed as tax exempt benefits in the EA Form.

Can interest on housing loans and car loans be deducted from gross salary on the EA form? Are medical expenses such as maternity expenses deductible?

Interest on housing and car loans are deductible only if paid by the employer on a total loan amount of up to RM300,000. Similarly, medical expenses are only deductible if the amount incurred has been paid by the employer and this benefit is extended to maternity and traditional medical expenses. However, should these expenses be paid personally by the employee, they are not tax deductible.

My organisation is a resident company and our expatriate Japanese director and technical manager has two types of income – salary from Malaysia and salary from Japan. Please advise whether we have to declare our Japanese director’s income in total (i.e. Malaysia and Japan) or just Malaysia-derived income to the Malaysian government?

All employment income derived by the Japanese expatriate for exercising employment in Malaysia is subject to income tax, including the amount paid in Japan, if it is related to the exercising of employment in Malaysia.

Is the tax benefit on childcare allowance up to RM2,400 a year to be deducted directly from the EA form? Is this applicable if there is no such benefit from the company I work for?

The childcare allowance is only tax exempted if you receive such an allowance from your employer; otherwise the exemption will not be applicable to you.

In the event you do receive the childcare allowance, the amount (the lower of the actual amount received or RM2,400) is to be excluded from the employment income and disclosed in section C1 of the Form BE.

I bought a comprehensive insurance policy (life + medical + investment) and the insurer is unable to split the premium payment into life insurance and medical insurance. Can I treat this totally as a medical premium as I have already disclosed RM6,000 for my life insurance premium and EPF deduction?

In the event that the amount cannot be segregated, the amount is to be disclosed either as life or medical insurance premiums based on the description stated in the insurance premium receipt.

Source: Easy guide to tax filing

Better Net security ranking for Malaysia

马来西亚网路安全排名有进步

Symantec最新的網際網路安全威脅報告 (Internet Security Threat Report Volume XIV) 指出，2008年的網路惡意程式碼 (Malicious Code) 活動繼續以前所未有的速度增加，直接威脅電腦使用者的機密資訊。而马来西亚在东南亚国家排名降至第九，2007为排名第6。

報告指出去年網路瀏覽行為 (Web Surfing) 繼續成為使用者感染惡意程式的主因。攻擊者利用愈來愈多特製的惡意程式碼工具套件，肆意開展和散播各類威脅。另外，Symantec在研究期間偵測到的威脅中，有九成皆以盜竊機密資訊為目的；而具有「按鍵側錄」(Keystroke-logging) 功能的威脅，在所有針對機密資料的威脅中佔76%，較2007年的72% 有所上升。這種功能常用於竊取網路銀行帳戶資料等機密資訊。

另一方面，報告發現了網路釣魚 (Phishing) 活動與日俱增。Symantec去年共偵測到55,389個釣魚網站，較2007年的33,428個激增了66%。去年的網釣活動中，有76% 均以金融服務為誘餌，比例高於2007年的52%。

此外，報告發現垃圾郵件有增無減。整體而言，Symantec發現去年網路的垃圾郵件由2007年的1,196億條，激增至3,496億條，增幅高達192%。

Source: Better Net security ranking for M'sia

Lessening the burden

FOR YA2008, employees need to make a minimum annual salary of RM26,804 before triggering income tax. Married couples should ensure that the higher-earning spouse claims child relief to lessen the tax burden.

Details: More tips on lessening your income tax burden

Tax reliefs:

Changes in tax regulations

These changes in tax regulations are:

Bonus/directors’ fees
Employees receiving director fees or bonuses in 2009 in relation to work performed in 2008 or prior to 2008 will only be taxed in year of assessment (YA) 2009 under a new amendment to the Income Tax Act 1967 to ease filing under the self assessment system via the Finance Act 2009 (gazetted on Jan 8, 2009).

These director fees or bonuses would be included in the EA Form 2009 to be submitted on April 30, 2010. They must not be treated as income in 2008 and should never be included in EA Form 2008.

EPF contributions: 11% or 8%?
Taxpayers need to consider the tax consequences if they elect to pay the mandatory minimum contribution of 8% to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).

By opting to contribute 8% to EPF instead of the previous 11%, they lose out on dividends, decrease the potential size of their retirement nest egg, and could suffer additional income tax.

Details: If you pay minimum EPF how does it affect you taxes

Tax benefits for employees

IT’S tax season again! Employees are required to submit their tax return Form BE for year of assessment (YA) 2008 on or before April 30, where the income assessed is in relation to the basis period of Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2008.

Additional goodies for YA2008:

Compensation for loss of employment
Employees who are retrenched on or after July 1, 2008 will be granted an income tax exemption of RM10,000 for each completed year of service with the employer or companies in the same group. If the retrenchment was before July 1, 2008, then the amount exempted for each year of service will be RM6,000.

Tax-exempt employee benefits — allowances
(a) Petrol card/petrol allowance/travel allowance
(b) Meal allowance for working overtime, travelling outstation.
(c) Parking allowance.
(d) Medical treatment for employees, spouses and children to include traditional medicine such as ayurvedic treatment and acupuncture.
(e) Interest subsidies on housing, car and education. The total loan amount is restricted to RM300,000.
(f) Childcare allowance up to RM2,400 a year.
(g) Employers’ products or services which can be provided free or at a discount which must not exceed RM1,000 a year.
These allowances need to be disclosed in the Form EA as tax-exempt benefits although they are not taxable on employees. These benefits are also available for YA2009.

Official duties – travelling allowance
In the Budget 2009 announcement, the Government said petrol cards, petrol allowance, travelling allowance and toll cards for official duties up to RM6,000 a year will be tax-exempt.

This means that the employer will exclude RM6,000 a year from the taxable income of employees as reported in the EA Form. However, the employer needs to disclose this RM6,000 as a tax-exempt benefit in the EA Form.

Details: Tips for filling your income tax returns

Management Tools 2009

Management Tools 2009: An Executive's Guide by Bain & Company

Over the past three decades, management tools have become a common part of executives' lives. Whether trying to increase revenues, innovate, improve quality, increase efficiencies or plan for the future, executives have looked for tools to help them. The current environment of globalization and economic turbulence has increased the challenges executives face and, therefore, the need to find the right tools to meet these challenges.

To do this successfully, executives must be more knowledgeable than ever as they sort through the options and select the right management tools for their companies. The selection process itself can be as complicated as the business issues they need to solve. They must choose the tools that will best help them make business decisions that lead to enhanced processes, products and services and result in superior performance and profits.

Successful use of such tools requires an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each tool as well as an ability to creatively integrate the right tools, in the right way, at the right time. The secret is not in discovering one magic device, but in learning which mechanism to use, and how and when to use it. In the absence of objective data, groundless hype makes choosing and using management tools a dangerous game of chance.

Source: Management Tools 2009: An Executive's Guide
Download : Booklet [pdf] More: Management Tools