Budget 2012 Wish List On Sports Equipment

There are many wish list for a better tax reduction or exemption that the government will table soon as part of the "bait" for the coming General Election due in 2012 (or expected in 2012).
As an active sports person of whom i consider myself to be at an amateur level, the RM300 income tax deductible is a joke.
With the news that there will be an "Anti-Obesity Law" by 2020 that dictates your health level according to your waist line (must be less than 33.5inches for men and 35.4inches for women), it only make more sense to encourage healthier living by allowing higher level of tax deduction for sports goods or participation.
Seriously, RM300 is a joke.
Before some of you think you know what that RM300 covers, please read the below that was written in the BE 2010 form which i am reproducing here:

D11 Purchase of sports 
An amount limited to a maximum of RM300 is deductible equipment for any in respect of expenses expended by the individual for sports activity as the purchase of sports equipment for any sports activity defined under the as defined under the Sports Development Act 1997. Sports Development Sports equipment includes equipment with short lifespan Act 1997 e.g. golf balls and shuttlecocks but excluding sports attire, e.g. swimsuits and sports shoes. Paragraph 46(1)(l)


So, what is in the Sports Development Act 1997 on Schedule 2 : Page 23 and 24?

The following activities are regarded as sports for the purposes of this Act:
1. Archery
2. Athletics
3. Aquatics
4. Automobile Sports
5. Badminton
5A. Baseball
6. Basketball
7. Billiards and Snooker
8. Body Building
9. Bowling
10. Boxing
10A. Canoeing
11. Cricket
12. Cycling
13. Equestrian Sports
14. Fencing
14A. Fitness
15. Football
16. Golf
17. Gymnastics
18. Handball
19. Hockey
19A. Ice Skating
20. Judo
20A. Kabbadi
21. Karate Do
22. Lawn Bowls
22A. Martial Arts
23. Netball
23A. Paralimpiad
23B. Petanque
23C. Recreational
23D. Rowing
24. Rugby
25. Sepak Takraw
26. Shooting
26A. Silambam
27. Silat Olahraga
28. Soft Tennis
29. Softball
30. Squash
31. Table Tennis
32. Tae kwan do
33. Tennis
33A. Traditional Games
34. Volleyball
35. Waterski
36. Weightlifting
37. Wrestling
38. Wushu
39. Yachting



After reading the above, the most basic item, which is SHOES are not even allowed to be claimed. How ridiculous is that? A cycling tire will cost as little as RM90 to RM500. At RM300 deduction, that is hardly enough.
I say if PM is serious about having a brilliant and HEALTHY nation (and not like some politicians with 40 inches waist and walking 500m is considered an exercise)...do us Rakyat a favor and remove the TAX on Sports Equipment, raise the Income Tax Deduction to perhaps RM1,000.00 or on par with Medical at RM5,000.00 (as health and sports goes hand in hand) and give incentive to people that sign up for major sporting event such as running a 42.2km marathon (i have to put the number in as to some, 5km is a marathon) or even people that run Ultra marathon or does endurance sports such as Triathlon and Duathlon.
Yeap, Triathlon and Duathlon are sorely missing in the list of sports per the 1997 act. Time to get it revised. Like seriously. Malaysia has a lot of potentials with these two sports and this is worth considering by the Politicians!
If you agree, share my blog post and spread the news!