HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL-8 March 1989
香港立法局——— 一九八九年三月八日
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consultation with relevant professionals and the commissioner has indicated that
guidelines on the new law will be issued as soon as possible.
Sir, with the agreed amendments, I support the motion.
MR. PETER WONG: Sir, I rise to support the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 1988. When the Bill was first published, taxation practitioners, especially the accountants, opposed it because of the unnecessary wide scope of the Bill the main purpose of which was to close a small loophole in the law resulting from a case found against the Inland Revenue Department. There were other useful amendments, such as increasing the number of Board of Review members and deputy chairmen, with which we are all in agreement.
I am pleased that the revised restricted formula (contained in the amendments to be moved at Committee stage) has been found acceptable to tax practitioners whilst closing the loophole to the satisfaction of the Inland Revenue Department. I hope that this will be a lesson to us all that it is not necessary to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
I am, however, disappointed that the commissioner does not see fit to release his "Practice Notes" at the same time that this legislation is enacted because that would give us all the full details of how the commissioner intends to apply the law in practice. Here I refer to the departmental practice of considering one-third of a non-resident entertainer or sportsman's income as deductible expense and only taxing the other two-thirds. This is not widely known amongst all practitioners, but I understand from the commissioner that it is readily accepted by taxpayers as it finalizes the tax payable quickly and with a minimum of fuss. I will be pleased if the Financial Secretary will confirm that this will be the practice.
With these comments, Sir, I support the motion.
FINANCIAL SECRETARY: Sir, I am most grateful to Mr. Peter POON and Mr. Peter WONG for their support. I would also like to thank Mr. POON and members of the ad hoc group for the careful and detailed consideration that they have given to this Bill. I shall be moving the amendment to which Mr. POON and Mr. Peter WONG referred at the Committee stage.
With regard to the comments of Mr. WONG, not the "nutcracker" comments but the comments on the timing of the release of Practice Notes, it should be borne in mind that Practice Notes are no more than a statement of