22
Wednesday, April 25, 1973
NEW BILL TO IMPLEMENT TAX PROPOSALS
The Financial Secretary, the Hon. C.P. Haddon-Cave, today rejected a
suggestion by some members of the Legislative Council to re-insert allowances
for dependent parents and life insurance abolished under his tax reform proposals.
He said this was just not possible because the proposals were "interlocked
to form a unified package."
The Financial Secretary was speaking in the Legislative Council this
afternoon when he moved the second reading of the Inland Revenue (Amendment)
(No. 2) Bill 1973.
He said: "The fact is that, because of the growing inadequacy of
the basic allowances over the years and the reluctance, in the uncertain
circumstances of those times, to forego too much revenue, fundamental reform
has not been possible until now."
Mr. Haddon-Cave said the three selective allowances of low income
relief, working wife allowance and dependent parent allowance were introduced
as palliatives to alleviate hardship, but at an administrative cost and with
"inequitable results."
He stood firm in his belief that the relief granted since the
war for insurance premia and similar payments was "quite inappropriate" in
a low tax system
-
particularly one that was being reformed.
The Financial Secretary defended his decision to refrain from proposing
that personal allowances should be retained at all levels of income charging
only net chargeable income to tax.
/This,