The government announced Budget 2021 yesterday and they had allocated RM 322.5 billion for the next year budget, which is a huge amount of money! Let’s check out the budget allocation.
1) Welfare for Covid-19 frontliners
- RM 600 per month as Covid-19 Special Allowance will be continued until we overcome the pandemic
- One-off RM 500 for KKM frontliners
2) Preserving the welfare of the vulnerables
- Financial aid for the disabled worker(OKU) that is working is increased from RM 200 to RM 300
- Aid rates for the elderly and for the care of the disabled and chronic desease patient is increased from RM 350 to RM 500
- Disable worker’s allowance is increased from RM 400 to RM 450
- Underprivileged child support rates is RM 150 per child age 7 to 18 years old
- RM 200 per child age 6 and below (max RM 1000 per family)
3) Bantuan sara hidup (BSH) is now replaced with Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR)
- Household income less than RM 2500 with 1 child will receive RM 1200.
- Household with 2 children or more will received RM 1800.
- Household income between RM 2501 to RM 4000 with 1 child, will received RM 800.
- Household with 2 children or more will received RM 1200.
- Household income between RM 4001 to RM 5000 with 1 child will received RM 500
- Household with 2 or more children will received RM 750.
- Single individu earning below RM 2500 will received RM 350.
4) Program Jaringan Prihatin (Free data)
- B40 will received RM 180 individually in terms of telecommunication credit.
- Telecommunication company will provide free Internet data.
5) Bantuan Bayaran Bersasar for B40 and M40
B40 category borrowers. The borrowers are given choice between;
- Posponed payment of monthly installments for 3 months, or
- 50% monthly installment reduction for 6 months
M40 borrowers need to do self-declaration on income reduction to get this repayment assistance.
This aid is starting from December 2020.
6) Withdraw RM 500 from Account 1 KWSP
- Can withdraw KWSP savings from account 1 with a target of rm 500 per month with an amount up to rm 6000 for 12 months
- KWSP minimum contribution rate reduced from 9% to 11%
7) Extention of wage subsidy program of RM 600
- Extend the implementation of wage subsidy for another 3 months at a rate of RM 600 per month for employees earning rm 4000 and below
8) Program e-Belia will credit RM 50 one-off into the e-Wallet account for youths aged 18 to 20 years old
9) The tax relief limit for disabled couples will be increased to RM 5000 from RM 3500
10) The My30 unlimited travel pass initiative will be continued and will be extended to Penang and Kuantan as well.
Unlimited monthly travel pass with a price of RM 5 will be introduced to year 1 school students up to form 6 and the disabled.
This pass is valid for Klang Valley commuter train service, northern commuter train, Kuala Lipis and Tumpat inter-city train and Sabah train in Beaufort-Tenom line
11) Tax relief up to RM 8000 for net savings of Skim Simpanan Nasional extended until 2022
12) An additional Special Care Grant of RM 100 will be given to traders and hawkers in Sabah. This including taxi driver, e-hailing, rent car and tourist guide in Sabah.
13) Under Penjana Kerjaya incentives, employees can get 40% of monthly pay
- Incentives for employees earning RM 1500 and above will be increased to 40% of monthly salary
14) Reskilling and Upskilling for Malaysian to start their career
- New graduates are offered vouchers worth RM 3000 to take professional certificate courses at public and private universities
- 30 million is allocated for PERHEBAT for training and entrepreneurship programs that are expected to benefit 12 thousand veterans of the Malaysian Armed Forces
- It also offers 50,000 job opportunities on a contract basis in the non goverment sector and Government Linked Companies (GLC)
15) Social protection under PERKESO
- EPF will allow withdrawals from the EPF Account 2 to purchase life insurance and takaful products and critical illnesses
- Individual income tax relief up to RM 3000 on Private Retirement Scheme Contributions (PRS) is continued until 2025.
- Full contribution under Occupational Disaster Scheme PERKESO
16) RM 30 million is provided to provide kindergartens in government buildings, especially hospitals while RM20 million to encourage the private sector to provide childcare centers in the workplace.
To alleviate the cost of living of urban B40s, especially working parents, the government will provide a Community Center as a daycare center for children after school sessions.
17) RM 10 million is allocated for cervical cancer screening programs and mammogram test subsidy incentives.
18) RM 20 million for Program Pembangunan Insan to provide vocational skills to prisoners.
Additional tax deductions which are given to employers who employ prisoners are extended until 2025.
19) The government will provide an incentive to private employers of RM 1000 per month for up to 3 months for each new graduate who participates in the apprenticeship program.
Employers can also claim a grant of up to RM 4000 for a training program for the apprentice.
20) GLC and Glick will contribute RM 150 into Tabung Cerdik for the provision of laptops to 150 thousand students as a pioneer project.
21) The government in collaboration with BSN will provide RM 100 million for the financing of the Skim BSN MyRinggit-i COMSIS which is a laptop loan to students who get a PTPTN loan.
22) Training and resettlement program for 8000 employees from airlines in Malaysia with an allocation of RM 50 million
Info via Treasury.gov.my