全球稅收改革使新加坡更難吸引投資：黃循財

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Global tax reform to make it harder for Singapore to draw investments: Lawrence Wong

Staff Writer, Singapore· Editorial Team

Mon., July 5, 2021, 5:19 a.m.

SINGAPORE — The plans by countries around the world to set a global minimum corporate tax rate will make it harder for Singapore to attract investments, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in Parliament on Monday (5 July).

Wong’s comments come after 130 countries and jurisdictions including Singapore commit to a two-pillar plan to radically reshape the global tax system, according to a statement by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development issued last week.

The global agreement follows a landmark deal by the G7 group of wealthy nations signed last month to force multinational companies to pay a fairer share of tax.

Singapore has to be “realistic about what the impact will be,” Wong said.

“It will make it harder for us to attract investments and we have to work harder, particularly given our size, the fact that Singapore is such a small city-state compared to so many other locations around the world, which offer equally if not more attractive and compelling attributes,” he added.

He was responding to a question by Member of Parliament for East Coast Jessica Tan about the impact of the tax deal on Singapore’s tech hub status.

Wong said Singapore has to work “much harder” in upgrading its workforce, infrastructure, connectivity, and overall business environment to stay competitive and attract investments.

Echoing the sentiment, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said Singapore's competitiveness goes beyond its taxation rate and that it must not be complacent.

“We are therefore redoubling our efforts to enhance our competitiveness and improve our business environment. For example, through upgrading our Industry Transformation Maps, we are confident that investors will continue to find Singapore a compelling place to do business and our economy can continue to thrive in the new environment,” Gan added.

In response to a question by Bishan-Toa Payoh MP Saktiandi Supaat about the risk of US firms moving out of Singapore because of the tax reform, Gan said the risks exist even now given that these firms do their financial calculations regularly to guide their investment decisions in Singapore.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry continues to look at ways to help companies operating here to continue doing so in cost-effective ways, Gan said. Apart from boosting its infrastructure, Singapore needs to expand its network of free trade agreements including their scope such as in the areas of renewable energy and the digital economy, he added.

Translation

新加坡 - 財政部長黃循財週一（7 月 5 日）在議會表示，世界各國製定全球最低公司稅率的計劃將使新加坡更難吸引投資。

黃的評論是在包括新加坡在內的 130 個國家和司法管轄區, 承諾從根本上重塑全球稅收體系的兩大支柱計劃的聲明之後發表的。該計劃是經濟合作與發展組織(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) 在上週發布。

該全球協議是繼上個月七國集團富裕國家集團簽署的一項具有里程碑意義的協議之後出現，該協議迫使跨國公司支付更公平的稅款。

黃循財說，新加坡必須“現實地面對將會產生的影響”。

他補充說:“這將使我們更難吸引投資，我們必須更加努力地工作，特別是考慮到我們的規模。事實上，與世界上許多其他地方相比，新加坡是一個如此細小的城市國家，其他地方提供同樣的, 甚至更多有吸引力和引人注​​目的特質”。

他正在回答東海岸議會議員 Jessica Tan 關於稅收協議對新加坡科技中心地位的影響的問題。

黃循財表示，新加坡必須“更加努力地”提升勞動力、基礎設施、連通性和整體商業環境，以保持競爭力並吸引投資。

貿易和工業部長Gan Kim Yong呼應這種情緒，表示新加坡的競爭力不局限於稅率，不能自滿。

Gan Kim Yong補充說: “因此，我們正在加倍努力，以提高我們的競爭力和改善我們的商業環境。例如，通過升級我們的行業轉型地圖，我們相信投資者將繼續發現新加坡是一個有吸引力的經商之地，我們的經濟可以在新環境中繼續蓬勃發展” 。

在回答 Bishan-Toa Payoh 議員 Saktiandi Supaat 關於美國公司因稅制改革而離開新加坡的風險時，Gan Kim Yong 表示，即使現在這些風險仍然存在，因為這些公司定期進行財務計算以指導他們在新加坡的投資決策。

Gan Kim Yong說，貿易和工業部將繼續尋找方法來幫助在這裡經營的公司, 以具有成本效益的方式繼續這樣經營。他補充說，除了加強基礎設施外，新加坡還需要擴大其自由貿易協定網絡，包括可再生能源和數字經濟領域的範圍。

       So, there is a new consensus among many countries on taxing big multi-national corporation following a statement by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. I am wondering how this will affect Hong Kong as one of the key financial centers in Asia.