SAMENTA recommends 1% higher contribution to EPF accounts of SME employees

While presenting the budget wishlist on behalf of Small and Medium Enterprises Association Malaysia (SAMENTA), chairman for policy and government relations Datuk William Ng, said the association wanted the government to consider making a 1% additional contribution to the Employees Provident Fund accounts of all SME employees, as reported in Bernama.

This, he explained, would counter the talent crunch that was inhibiting SME growth.

SAMENTA also wants the Government to provide double tax deduction for the training of all SME employees and for the SMEs’ participation in career fairs in order to encourage capability development, per the same report in The Edge.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is scheduled to present Budget 2019 on 2 November.

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Amongst the other items on the wishlist, Ng recommended the government to set a target of having 30% of all procurement by government departments as well as government and government-linked agencies come from SME vendors. This, he said, would give the SMEs greater market access.

He also expressed hope that the government would retain the tax reduction scheme currently used in years of assessment 2017 and 2018 of between 1-4% for any increase in chargeable income to stimulate greater growth among the SMEs.