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THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1983
THIS TREND, HE STRESSED, MUST BE CHANGED.
CITING STATISTICS TO ILLUSTRATE HIS POINT, MR BREMRIDGE POINTED OUT THAT IN THE COMING FISCAL YEAR, THERE WOULD BE ABOUT 2.4 MILLION WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, ONLY ABOUT 315 000 OF WHOM WOULD PAY ANY SALARIES TAX AT ALL.
OF THESE TAXPAYERS, 22 000 OR SEVEN PER CENT WOULD PAY 50 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL TAX.
+THIS SEEMS CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT NOT ONLY ARE THE POOR NOT OVER-TAXED BUT IN FACT ARE NOT DIRECTLY TAXED AT ALL.
+ REMIND YOU THAT A TYPICAL HONG KONG FAMILY OF MAN, WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN PAYS NO SALARIES TAX BELOW AN INCOME OF $5 790 A MONTH -- HARDLY A DEFINITION OF THE LOWLY PAID POOR,+ MR BREMRIDGE SAID.
HE ALSO UNDERLINED THE +CONSTANTLY OVERLOOKED FACT+ THAT THE GOVERNMENT NOW PROVIDES HOUSING ON A SUBSIDISED BASIS TO SOME 43 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION, A FIGURE THAT WILL GROW IN THE COMING YEARS.
DESCRIBING THIS SUBSIDY AS NEGATIVE INCOME TAX+ MR BREMRIDGE NOTED THAT NEARLY HALF OF HONG KONG'S POPULATION IS HOUSED BELOW COST, PARTLY AT OTHER TAXPAYERS' EXPENSE, AND A LARGE MAJORITY ALSO PAYS NO DIRECT TAX.
+THE PICTURE THEREFORE IS NOT ONE OF EXCESS TAXATION OF THE LOWLY PAID, FOR CLEARLY THE FEW CARRY THE MANY.
+THOSE WHO ADVOCATE HIGHER SALARIES TAX SHOULD ALSO NOT FORGET THAT THE REALLY RICH IN HONG KONG ARE GENERALLY NOT SALARIED, HE POINTED OUT.
HE EXPLAINED THAT IF HE WAS TO INCREASE THE RETURN ON SALARIES TAX, HE WOULD NEED TO ATTACK BOTH ENDS OF THE TAX SPECTRUM.+
+THE RICH WOULD PAY MORE BUT THE MIDDLE CLASSES WOULD ALSO FACE ADDITIONAL BURDENS AND LARGE NUMBERS OF THE LESS WELL PAID WHO NOW ARE UNTAXED WOULD PERFORCE ENTER THE NET AS ALLOWANCES WERE REDUCED.
+WE SIMPLY CANNOT SECURE ALL THAT WE NEED FROM THE HIGHER PAID ALONE FOR THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH OF THEM: SUCH AN APPROACH ANYWAY WOULD LACK BALANCE, SMELL OF SOCIAL ENGINEERING, AND DESTROY INCENTIVES, MR BREMRIDGE SAID,
TO ILLUSTRATE HIS POINT FURTHER, HE SAID THAT IF THE SALARIES TAX RATE WAS TO BE RAISED BY FOUR PERCENTAGE POINTS TO 19 PER CENT FOR THE RICH+, SUCH AN INCREASE WOULD YIELD NO MORE THAN $400 MILLION AT THE MOST.
/+THUS I