Today, reading an email from somebody from UUM. He posted the link above and when I watched it..., masyaAllah!...tears running down my eyes...beutiful Islam! If you seek, InsyaAllah you'll find the answer.(Show us the right path....Muslim says this 17x a day.  Please watch, either you're Muslim or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=5J-9dn3_hpY&vq=medium).

If Prophet Muhammad (SAW) visited you

Amana Magazine, Issue 37, 2012, pp. 25&28.

If Prophet Muhammad (saw) visited you

Just for a day or two,

If he came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do,

Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room

To such an honored

And all the food you'd serve him,

Would be the very best,

And you would keep assuring him,

You're glad to have him there,

That serving him in your home,

Is joy beyond compare.

But...when you saw him coming,

Would you meet him at the door,

With arms outstretched in welcome

To your visitor?

Or...would you have to change your clothes

Before you let him in?

Or hide some megazines and put

The Qur'an where they had been?

Would you watch the same movies

On your T.V. set?

Or would you switch it off

Before he gets upset?

Would you turn off the radio,

And hope he hadn't heard?

And wish you hadn't uttered that last hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music,

And instead take Hadith books out?

Could you let him walk right in,

Or would you have to rush about?

And, I wonder...if the Prophet spent

A day or two with you,

Would you go right on doing the things

You always do?

Would you go right on saying the things

You always say?

Would life for you continue,

As it does from the day to day?

Would your family squabbles

Keep up their usual pace,

And would you find it hard each meal

To say a table grace?

Would you keep up every prayer

Without putting on a frown?

And would you always jump up early

For prayer at dawn?

Would you sing the song you always sing,

And read the books you read?

And let him know the things on which

Your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take the Prophet with you

Everywhere you plan to go?

Or, would you maybe change your plans

Just for a day or so?

Would you be glad to have him meet

Your very closest friends?

Or, would you hope they stay away

Until his visit ends?

Would you be glad to have him stay

Forever, on and on?

Or would you sigh with great relief

When he at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know

The things that you would do,

If Prophet Muhammad, in person, came

to spend some time with you

Factors Underpinning Usage Behaviour of an Electronic Filing System: The Case of Malaysian Personal Taxpayers

By: Idawati Ibrahim, paper presented at the 2012 Australian Tax Teachers Association (ATTA) Conference, Sydney, 16-19 January 2012

In 2005, the income tax electronic filing (e-filing) system was introduced for personal taxpayers in Malaysia. The take-up rate of the e-filing is relatively low, though the system is generally considered better than manual filing system.  After five years of its introduction, only about 30 percent of overall Malaysian personal taxpayers used e-filing (Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, 2010). While previous studies have emphasised factors affecting the intention to adopt the e-filing system, this paper examines factors that determine the actual usage behaviour among personal taxpayers’ towards the system. The factors tested are perceived usefulness, perceived self-ability, feeling of anxiety,  and external influence.  In 2010, mail surveys were distributed to personal taxpayers by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. Drawing data from 209 useable responses, a logistic regression analysis was utilised to determine factors significantly affecting taxpayers’ actual usage behaviour of the e-filing system. The results suggest that perceived usefulness and feeling of anxiety are statistically significant and outperform the other factors in explaining the actual usage behaviour of the e-filing system among Malaysian personal taxpayers. Specifically, the likelihood of a taxpayer using the e-filing system is positively related to the perceived usefulness of the system but is negatively related to his/her feelinf of anxiety towards the system. The results may provide useful information for the government in formulating appropriate strategies to increase the take-up rates of the e-filing system among personal taxpayers in Malaysia.

Compliance Costs of Electronic Tax Filing for Personal Taxpayers in Malaysia

by: Idawati Ibrahim & Jeff Pope, paper presented at the International Conference of Management, Penang, 13-14 June 2011.

The revolution in technology is highly beneficial for tax systems. Compliance costs were reported as high and regressive in many countries and taxes. Electronic filing is an example of techniques utilizing technology aiming at reducing compliance costs of taxation. This study reports preliminary findings on estimates of compliance costs for individual taxpayers in Malaysia under the e-filing system. Mail survey was used to gather the data and was developed based on the renowned Cedric Sandford’s model. On average, it is estimated that the time spent for personal income tax system is about 9.9 hours for manual filing group and about 7.7 hours for e-filing group. Findings on time spent indicate that the median time to submit tax return is statistically less for e-filing group than manual filing group by 0.25 hours. However, the median time to gain assistance is in the opposite direction by 0.37 hours. The monetary costs related to Information Technology (IT) shows that e-filing group spent more IT costs than manual filing group. This paper makes a vital contribution towards enhancing knowledge in compliance costs literature particularly from the effect of technology and the results can serve as a basis for future analysis.

My first published paper

Ibrahim & Pope (2011) The Viability of a Pre-Filled Income Tax Return System for Malaysia Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government, Volume 17, Issue 2.

Abstract:

Many countries have made various efforts to reduce tax non-compliance and the related compliance costs. These efforts include a pre-filled return system that no longer requires taxpayers to fill-up their tax return form. The aim of this paper is to examine the viability of a pre-filled return system for Malaysia. Specifically, five critical success factors suggested by the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation Development are examined in the Malaysian context. It is found that the pre-filled return system could prove viable due to the existing accurate withholding system, high integrity taxpayer identifiers and effective use of technology. The biggest challenge is posed by the need for comprehensive systems of third-party reporting to the revenue body and compatible legislative framework. The paper concludes that under the current Malaysian tax structure, a partially pre-filled return system is a more viable choice; a fully pre-filled return system is possible for higher detection of non-compliance.