Singaporeans against higher taxes to support elderly

SINGAPORE, Jan 18 (Reuters): Singaporeans are not in favour of higher taxes to support their rapidly ageing population, a survey published on Thursday showed, and would prefer the country to tap its national reserves to deal with future social spending increases.

Singapore has some of the lowest tax rates in the world but government officials have signalled the need for higher taxes to support future social spending and infrastructure needs.

Changes may be unveiled as soon as the February 19 budget, analysts say. But in an Institute of Policy Studies survey 40 per cent of 2,000 respondents said they would not be comfortable paying for higher social spending on the elderly through higher taxation instead of tapping on the national reserves.