WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1983
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IMMEDIATE TAX INCREASES ON LIQUOR, TOBACCO, HYDROCARBON OILS, DRIVING AND VEHICLE LICENCES
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FOUR OUT OF 11 PROPOSALS FOR INCREASING REVENUE BY ABOUT $3 BILLION IN 1983-84 CAME INTO EFFECT TODAY (WEDNESDAY) UNDER THE REVENUE PROTECTION ORDERS SIGNED IN THE MORNING BY THE GOVERNOR, THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, THE HON JOHN BREMRIDGE SAID.
IMMEDIATE INCREASES CAME INTO EFFECT FOR LIQUOR, TOBACCO, HYDROCARBON OILS, AND DRIVING AND VEHICLE LICENCES.
THE REMAINING SEVEN WILL COME INTO EFFECT ON APRIL 1, 1983, OR AS SOON AS THE NECESSARY LEGISLATION HAS BEEN ENACTED, HE EXPLAINED.
ROUGHLY DOUBLING THE DUTY ON LIQUOR, HE POINTED OUT THAT THE RATES WERE LAST REVISED IN 1975.
+SINCE THEN THE INCIDENCE OF DUTY IN RETAIL PRICES HAS FALLEN TO A POINT WHERE, IN MANY INSTANCES, IT IS HALF WHAT
IT WAS AT THE LAST REVISION. PROPOSE TO RESTORE THE INCIDENCE BY ROUGHLY DOUBLING THE DUTY RATES, EFFECTIVE FROM THIS AFTERNOON,+ HE SAID.
MR BREMRIDGE SAID IT WAS FOR THE TRADE TO DETERMINE THEIR SELLING PRICES, ASSUMING THAT THE INCREASED DUTIES WERE PASSED ON TO CONSUMERS IN FULL, THE INCREASE IN THE RETAIL PRICE OF A BOTTLE OF BRANDY MAY BE $30, OF WHISKY ABOUT $20, OF TABLE WINE ABOUT $7 AND OF A CAN OF BEER 15 TO 20 CENTS, ALL DEPENDING ON THE BRAND.
THE MAIN DUTY RATES SHOULD BRING IN AN ADDITIONAL $300 MILLION.
MR BREMRIDGE SAID THE PRESENT BASIS OF LEVYING DUTY ON LIQUOR PER MEASURE WAS OPEN TO CRITICISM EVEN THOUGH SIMPLE TO ENFORCE. THERE SEEMED NO REASON WHY PURCHASERS OF CHEAPER BRANDS IN A CLASS OF DRINKS SHOULD PAY EXACTLY THE SAME DUTY PER BOTTLE AS REQUIRED FOR AN EXPENSIVE BRAND.
HE THEREFORE WOULD CONSIDER SUBMITTING NEW LEGISLATION TO PROPOSE CHANGING THE BASIS OF LEVYING DUTY ON ALCOHOL TO AN AD VALOREM RATHER THAN THE PRESENT UNITARY SYSTEM.
HE ADDED, HOWEVER, THAT IT HAD TO BE UNDERSTOOD THAT AT PRESENT, THIS REPRESENTED NO COMMITMENT -- EXCEPT TO A STUDY.
THE INCIDENCE OF DUTY IN RETAIL PRICES FOR CIGARETTES HAD SIMILARLY DECLINED SINCE THEY WERE LAST REVISED IN 1978, HE SAID. THE PRICE OF CIGARETTES, CIGARS AND TOBACCO IN HONG KONG WAS STILL VERY LOW BY WORLD ́STANDARDS. HE SAID ADDITIONAL REVENUE HAD TO BE RAISED, AND HE PROPOSED NOT ONLY TO RESTORE THE INCIDENCE BUT TO LOOK FOR EVEN FURTHER REVENUE BY INCREASING THE DUTY RATES ON TOBACCO BY FOUR TIMES.
/T PASSED
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