Sabah and Sarawak deserve higher allocations in Budget 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

Despite earlier saying that it was a budget tailored for the Sarawak election , Ahmad Zahid now says it is not to buy votes.

“This is not to buy votes nor is it to win the state election or general election. It is because the federal government is concerned for the people of Sabah and Sarawak.

“We need to give them what they need,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Zahid in an immediate reaction to the Budget 2016 speech Friday said the budget was meant to win over the Sarawak electorate in the state polls, expected to be called next year.

Not Robin Hood budget

Zahid today added it is wrong to call Budget 2016 a ' Robin Hood' budget , despite the proposal to raise taxes for the top tier of individual income taxpayers.

"This is not stealing and redistributing income. It is a progressive tax structure which exists in both developing and develope countries," he said.

He said other countries tax top income earners by up to 50 percent.

"Don't use all sorts of terms to try to give a bad impression on our taxation policy," he said.

The government wants to raise taxes for those earning an annual net chargable income of RM600,000 to RM1 million from 25 percent to 26 percent.

The proposal was tabled in Parliament through the 2016 Budget speech by the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on Friday.

Those earning more than a RM1 mil in annual net chargeable income will be taxed 28 percent.

This is an introduction of two new income brackets.

The current top income threshold is RM400,000 and above.

Those within this bracket received a reprieve last year when tax rates were cut from 26 percent to 25 percent.

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