Secretariat File No. 75/47.
No.
123 A
CONFIDENTIAL
54307/47
Lua (33-34)
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG,
84
16th May, 1947.
18
Encl. 1
Encl. 2
Encl. 3
Mas
sir,
(15)
With reference to my Telegram No. 756 of the 30th
April, I have the honour to transmit for the signification
of His Majesty's pleasure an Ordinance entitled "An Ordinance
to Impose a Tax on Earnings and Profits". An explanatory
report by the Attorney-General, together with a statement,
that, in his opinion, assent may properly be given, is also
enclosed.
2.
As enacted, the Ordinace differs in a number of
respects from the Bill which was drafted by Mr. Pudney in
London with the assistance of experts from the Department of
Inland Revenue. In its original form, the Bill was published
for general information on the 7th March and thereafter it was
referred to the Taxation Committee for an expression of their views. For this purpose, the Committee was augmented by the
inclusion in its number of all the Unofficial Members of
Legislative Council.
3.
The Unofficial Members of the Committee agreed in principle that direct taxation should be imposed but expressed themselves as being in favour of postponement of the operation
of the tax to a future date. The view was also expressed by
all except three of the Unofficial Members of the Committee
that, in their opinion, it was imperative that the standard rate should be low and that it should not exceed 10%. They
also considered that the Bill required more detailed
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
ARTHUR CREECH JONES, P.C., M.P.
RECEIVED 2 JUN 1947
C. O. REGY