The 1% and beyond

I have read a lot of the 1%, different opinions with most criticizing the new law because it is directly affecting all of us. Some even asked religious figure if this was permitted in Islam. In this article I want to focus on beyond the 1% issue, however I will say the following; I don’t mind paying the 1% as long as I see an effective mechanism for implementing the unemployment scheme. Some people argue, rightly so, that the government can afford to pay for it, I do agree they can afford that but I think any surplus and other government income should be invested in infrastructure and other important matters. Just give an example of government waste, a week back, BDF announce the purchase of 9 attacking helicopters for total sum of US$205 million, imagine what we could have done with that. A simple calculation of how many home they could have built:

• US205 million = BD77.258 million
• Each house costs around BD77k
• That’s 1003 homes
• An average of four per family = shelter for 4012 Bahrainies

Not to mention the number of apartments they could have built. I am not convinced that this is a national security issue, if there is security issue then there must be a threat, where is the threat???
If we had a responsible government I wouldn’t mind paying even 5% tax. For now just remember "Bahrain is no more a tax free country" and there is more to come. The 1% is only the beginning, I refer you to the following:
"The GCC countries are likely to implement tax regime as part of establishing a workable and efficient tax base starting with introducing consumption tax or value added tax (VAT), a senior official at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed yesterday."

"Rainer Geiger, deputy director, director for financial and enterprise affairs MENA-OECD Investment Programme, on the sidelines of the two-day MENA-OECD regional MENA Investment Policy workshop, said that the taxation model was currently being discussed by GCC member states as part of collective efforts to develop an integrated taxation system for the entire bloc."The initiative is a collective effort of GCC countries as part of regional integration and introduction of an effective taxation regime across the region."
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20070626042218/SecMarkets/pagMoney
So I say embrace for the worst, Taxes in general are good but when you have an irresponsible government then they are REALLY BAAAAAD.