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more regressive totally contradicting the Government's oft-repeated commitment to social equity in the taxation
system.
average
A 5 per cent sales tax, Sir, would rob the
the industrial
worker of about 3 per cent of his income.
That is
equivalent to six months of lunch boxes. The same tax level would milk the typical middle manager of some 2 per cent of his income say the cost of commuting to work for a whole year. But for the well-padded brokers who crave this tax, it would mean a mere 0.6 per cent of their total compensation. What is that? A few drinks with the boys. Is this to be the final legacy of the once-renowned British Administration? Is this what the Government wants? That the poor subsidise the rich? That the factory workers and middle managers carry the top brokers on their backs right to the gangplank of the Canberra"? Frankly, I find such a situation morally repugnant and politically
explosive.
We all know that there are those who scuttle around Hong 22 Kong whispering that anyone who questions the decision of
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the Finance Branch on fiscal policy is undermining confidence in Hong Kong. The people of Hong Kong are not stupid. The world, financial community is not naive.
as blau ding Mindlessly appalling ineptitude, rubber-stamping incom- petence will do. more/erode the foundations of Hong Kong's 28 economy than a few voices crying the truth in the
wilderness.
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Sir, the urge to tax is one of a government's baser instincts. Our Government should resist the temptation. Rather than pile on unnecessary, possibly irresponsible taxation, the Administration ought to be looking for ways to cut taxes, to promote business competitiveness and growth. Hong Kong likes to think it offers a uniquely
taxes,
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Flet