HONGKONG SUNDAY HERALD. OCTOBER 15th, 1939.
HONGKONG INCOME TAX
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Ample forewarning of the impending introduction of Income Tax into HongKong did not prevent the greeting of the official announcement with a sharp hostility in some quarters.
With that hostility there must be, up to a point, some sympathy. Living costs in this Colony have been steadily increasing and will continue to increase. It is an entirely new tax, which leaves it practically self-condemned were there no other considerations. It is the Colony's first form of genuinely direct taxation affecting the many continuously, and a criticism interest- ingly reminiscent of the attitude which inspired oppos- ition to Britain's first Income Tax which was only 6d in the pound, is not wholly surprising.
For all that, we still believe, with our evening associate, that the vast majority of residents of the dolony who will be affected by the claims of the Income Tax Assessor will loyally accept this call to contribute to the Imperial War Chest, fully sharing the sentiments expressed by His Excellency the Governor when announcing the Government's proposals.
We find it difficult to proceed far beyond the principle suggested for our most earnest consideration, which is simple indeed. It is that this Colony is part of an Empire engaged in a war which at the worst may well tax all its resources to their uttermost limits. It is a war forced upon this Empire of ours by a concept of liberty and a decent world order which commands our unstinted support. It is a war compelling, surely, the conviction that our conscience would be dark were we, on any pretext whatever, to refuse to put our share into the vast pool demanded for its successful prosecution.
We cannot put this in better terms than these: Because we are well removed from any likely theatre of operations, that is no reason to claim a privileged ex- clusion from contributing towards the cost. On the contrary, our relative immunity from peril to life and limb as a result of military operations might well be urged as a cogent additional reason for giving of our money to Britain.
That adjustments will be necessary is incontrov- ertible. But a sober examination of the Government's pro- posals and their effect upon the individual, needs only comparison with the colossal burden of Britain's War Budget to stifle protest. In the face of the British taxpayer's stolid acceptance of his burden, we owe our share as a duty.