47
number of private suggestions by leading European
business men for something like an income tax con-
This in fact would be achieved
fined to Europeans.
overe
without a potional discrimination by a salaries tax
with a reasonably high exemption limit, because
hardly any non “uropeans in the Colong draw high salaries (the big Chinese inconcs are by way
of profits).
These three taxes, therefore, would
I succeeded
have covered almost the whole range of income tax
derived from within the Colony, except the profits
of Chinese and other private businesses.
however, in pursuading Mr. Lo, who is the spear head
of the opposition, that a simple percentage tax on
Chinese business profits, with an exemption for small
businesses, would be workable and would avoid the
thing which had most prejudiced the Chinese against
income tax, that is, enquiry into the individual
interests of partners in Chinese firms. (Actually
there is every reason to believe there are large
numbers of Chinese firms with a number of partners
in excess of the legal maximum). We had then to
Co
set ourselves the process of educating the remainder
of the Income Tax Committee, which was a somewhat
unwieldy body of 14 members, to the same views.
When I left the Colony they had been brought to the
point where they had clearly got to say yes or no,
and were hesitating about taking the plunge.
Apparently they hesitated a fortnight longer, but
have now agreed to a series of measures which will
cover about 95% of the ground of income-tax. The
administration of these measures will be, in some
respects, much simpler than that of an income-tax,
but it may be made more difficult by the absence of
easy precedents for some of the organisation.
If
they