Thursday 29 January 2015

FARM Volume 2 is out now!

That's right, folks, the 5th edition of our best-selling Financial Accounting and Reporting in Malaysia, Volume 2 is now available for purchase from your favourite Account Manager.




Featuring detailed and in-depth content by the esteemed author Professor Tan Liong Tong, who needs no introduction in the accounting and auditing scene, this book is a must-have for all accounting professionals and financial accountants alike.

Get your copy quick!

Tuesday 27 January 2015

TPCA features highlight!

Attention to  subscribers of our popular Asia Tax Planning and Compliance (TPCA) online product:

Did you know, since last year, TPCA now has a new feature for each country called SNAPSHOTS, which is a summary of a country's tax environment, listing all the key information a regional headquarters in Malaysia or Singapore would need.

Here's where you would locate it in your product (using Laos as an example):






We also have Comparison Tables, where you can extract key information and compare them between countries. If you're not a subscriber, but like what you read, what are you waiting for? Call Wolters Kluwer to subscribe now!

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Oil price crash brings out Singapore dollar bears

Bearish forecasts for the Singapore dollar are growing amid expectations that crude oil's recent tumble will result in looser monetary policy.
The Singapore dollar dropped more than 7 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past six months as the Federal Reserve brought its asset purchase program to an end and appears on course for further weakness given lower oil prices. Deutsche Bank believes it could weaken to S$1.40 this year, a level not seen since July 2010, while Standard Chartered expects it to hit S$1.37; the USD/SGD is currently trading at S$1.33.
Declining inflation will lend a dovish tilt to the central bank's policy bias this year amid cheaper oil prices, underpinning currency weakness, Deutsche Bank said in a recent report.
"Given the 50 percent annual plunge in oil, core inflation should fall to under 1 percent on year by April. This we believe will open up room for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to ease policy," it said, referring to the country's central bank.
Energy and food items combined have a weighting of 27 percent in Singapore's consumer price inflation basket. Brent crude prices have plunged more than 50 percent since August, trading around $50 presently and major banks including Goldman Sachs expect the commodity to close out the year at that level.
Monetary policy in the Southeast Asian city state is based on a trade-weighted exchange rate that comprises a basket of currencies, called the Singapore Dollar Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (SGD NEER). Meanwhile, core inflation, a measure that excludes the price of accommodation and private road transport, is the main target variable for monetary policy and is expected to average between 2-3 percent this year, according to official forecasts.
"Singapore is one of the few countries that include energy prices in her measure of core inflation, given reliance on imported energy and the direct impact of foreign exchange policy on imported prices. The dramatic decline in oil prices should therefore be considered an important input to policy here," Deutsche Bank said.

One month extension for SST returns and payment of tax

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) has announced a one month extension (until 31 July 2021) for the submission of SST-02 forms an...