Introducing Sales Tax in Hong Kong

A recent big buzz in Hong Kong is the government proposal of the General Sales Tax (GST) and when the democratic party went demostrated today, a legislator got assaulted. What city is Hong Kong becoming??

The mass protest against the proposed goods and services tax Sunday has prompted officials to release new figures highlighting the territory’s income volatility, but political analysts insist the government is “barking up the wrong tree.”

I was so mad but it was good to read on Gregg’s writing about his stance, as he works for a major news outlet in Hong Kong,

反 對 加 稅 。 經 濟 才 剛 復 蘇 ， 五 十 二 億 元 （ 未 計 地 價 ） 的 添 馬 艦 已 急 急 上 馬 ， 現 在 又 說 加 稅 ， 市 民 的 印 象 分 已 先 減 了 一 大 截 。 在 沒 有 緊 控 開 支 和 慎 用 公 帑 的 表 現 及 承 諾 下 ， 與 「 藏 富 於 民 」 相 違 背 的 建 議 ， 實 在 難 以 教 人 支 持 。

Oppose. The economy is just recovering, and the goverment is already implementing the 52 billion dollars Timar proposal. Now they suggest the introduction of GST, and it definitely discounts the public’s impression of the govenrment. Without a tight budget or prudent financial outlook, the government has gone against its ‘returning the money to the public’ proposal, making it difficult to solicit support.

My opinion (cross-posed on Gregg’s blog): Agree. The whole purpose of taxing, political conspiracies aside, should focus on narrowing down the income inequality gap.

GST – even an average Form Five student in Hong Kong can tell you that GST is regressive tax, which means that poors pay porportionally way more than the rich.

If widening the tax base is the main rationale to this proposal, this doesn’t make sense either. Youth unemployment rate is 9.7% in 2005, compared to almost half of the adults population. What the governemnt needs to do is to invest in enducation for teenages and young adults, and leave the poor alone. This way it strengthens the long-term economic environment while leaving our tourism industries untouched which remain the aorta of our economies.

The education policy has already segregated further the rich kids (who all went abroad) form the disadvantaged ones. Now they want to harrass the older folks too?

damn.