CIMB SME webinar highlights tax compliance from Budget 2021 and data analytics to benefit SMEs

10 December 2020

The talk provides SMEs further insights for them to navigate the pandemic and identify opportunities for their businesses 

Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Bank Berhad (“CIMB” or “the Bank”) recently held a 2-hour webinar to share with SMEs critical information on taxation, opportunities and solutions to help them navigate the pandemic, following the Budget 2021 announcement. The session was co- hosted by Thenesh Kannaa, author of three books on Malaysian taxation and Partner at TraTax, and M.G. Ong, best-selling author of High Value Online Marketing Secrets for Small Business Owners and Chief Advisor of 6Biz.

With valuable insights on taxation and essential tools available for small businesses, the session saw close to 50 attendees from diverse business sectors such as engineering, apparel, consulting, academic institutions and other business enterprises.

Key items that SMEs could benefit from were covered in the session. These included tax rebates for new SMEs, reinvestment allowance, double deductions for senior citizens and ex-convicts, approved incentive schemes, as well as various specific tax incentives such as those for manufacturing, research and development, principal hub, global trading centre, healthcare, capital markets, equity crowdfunding, and real estate. Other topics highlighted include benefits valid for Year of Assessment 2021 onwards, eligibility as well as those announced under the PENJANA short-term economic recovery plan.

The use of data analytics, to help identify and solve business issues so that businesses are able to assess their sales model, was also covered. This includes how data analytics can be used as an aid to recover from the effects of the pandemic, providing clear opportunities for actionable insights such as maximising revenue, drive efficiency, predict business outcomes, while enabling SMEs to identify top products and better manage cash flow.

For Apart from this, M.G Ong also offered free consultancy sessions for the first 10 companies.

CIMB has supported over 700 SMEs since the start of the pandemic through a series of webinars to digitalise their businesses with Partners including Shopmatic, BusinessHR, Taylors Community and others. For updates on future sessions SMEs are encouraged to visit www.cimb.com for more information.