— A 2 -
REVENUE.
3. The largest single item of revenue is derived from the Assessed Taxes, the sum of $5,976,160 being collected. This represents 19.89% of the total revenue or 20.07% of the revenue exclusive of land sales.
4. In the following table the actual revenue for the year 1936 is compared with the revenue of the previous year and with the estimate for the year 1936:--
Heads of Revenue Actual 1935 Estimates 1936 Actual 1936 Duties $5,173,837.40 $5,335,000 $6,928,672.06 Port & Harbour Dues $485,607.00 $540,000 $638,284.39 Licences and Internal Revenue not otherwise specified $13,781,702.70 $12,769,495 $13,837,182.66 Fees of Court or Office, Payments for specific purposes, and Reimbursements in Aid $2,261,116.21 $1,790,000 $2,058,885.99 Kowloon-Canton Railway $1,323,000 $1,245,469.16 $2,076,322.24 Post Office $1,759,660.09 $1,411,674.73 $1,632,973.99 Rent of Government Property, Land and Houses $1,646,595.88 $1,651,800 $1,632,973.99 Interest $248,540.41 $200,000 $193,291.21 Miscellaneous Receipts $1,601,652.57 $588,000 $977,877.69 Total (exclusive of Land Sales) $28,185,593.02 $26,369,845 $29,773,753.36 Land Sales, (Premia on New Leases) $244,956.56 $302,000 $269,230.50 Total... $28,430,549.58 $26,671,845 $30,042,983.865. The actual revenue exceeded the estimate by $3,371,139, and the anticipated deficit of $2,926,303 was, therefore, turned into a surplus of over $500,000. Increases over the Estimates occurred in Duties $1,593,672, Port and Harbour Dues $98,284, Licences and Internal Revenue $1,067,688, Fees of Court, &c., $88,566, Post Office $268,886, and Miscellaneous Receipts $389,878; but decreases were shown in Kowloon Canton Railway receipts $77,531, Rent of Government Property $18,826, Interest $6,709, and Land Sales $32,769.
The large increase in Duties was mainly due to a revision of the tariff which became effective on 1st April, 1936. Receipts from Tobacco Duty were exceptional during the last quarter of the year, and, as the large withdrawals from bond were made chiefly for manufacture for export, heavy payments of drawback were expected and have in fact been made during the first three months of 1937. These have amounted to over $650,000 and the surplus mentioned above was, therefore, illusory.