6
*
B. THE YEAR'S WORK.
21
GENERAL:
12.
For rather more than the first six months of the
year activities were almost entirely confined to the opening
up of the Department. This involved the collection of
information as to probable taxpayers and the preparation and sorting of some 85,000 information cards.
From this infor-
Some
mation some 40,000 files of various types were opened.
of these files ultimately proved to be duplications, often due to English and Chinese names of many firms not always
At the end of being strict translations one of the other.
the year the following files were open:-
Assessment files:
Profits Tax
20,400
Salaries & Annuities Tax
8,400
Interest Tax, Property Tax
2,200
Personal Assessment
1,000
Files not yet classified
6,000
38,000
General Office and Collection Files
500
38,500
Unless it should be thought that undue emphasis is laid on
the number of files opened, it should be explained that the proper functioning of a department such as this is almost entirely dependent on the properly controlled circulation of
assessment files. To secure this it was necessary to prepare
no less than 100,000 index cards.
13. In addition, 3,660 mortgages, etc., interest on which might be liable to tax, were recorded from a variety
of sources.
14. Throughout the year much time was taken up with interviewing taxpayers and explaining the provisions of the Ordinance both generally and in relation to individual cases. An explanatory pamphlet was issued, setting forth the Ordinance in simple language, and regular Press Conferences were held.
ASSESSMENT:
15. It was not until November, 1947, that active assess— Even then ment became a prominent feature of the Department.
the shortage of assessing staff made it impossible to progress