Question No. 14
Written Reply by the Financial Secretary
The Hon. Piers Jacobs, OBE, JP
to Question No. 14 to be asked by the Hon Mrs. Rita Fan at the sitting of Legislative Council on 14 January 1987
Question
Answer
for
: With reference to the
the estimated cost to tax
revenue of a separate scheme of taxation
married couples given in the speech by the
Financial Secretary on 14 April 1983 during
debate on second reading of the Appropriation
Bill 1983, will Government provide an updated
financial implications of
estimate on the
such a scheme?
be
at
least
In
: I estimate that the present cost of
introducing a scheme of separate taxation for
married couples would
$400 million in the year of implementation
and in subsequent years thereafter.
addition, because of the increased number of
files resulting from a scheme of separate
taxation, the Inland Revenue Department's
administrative costs would increase by some
$17 million per annum.