49.
Profits tax paid by property business sector
Following is a question by the Hon Eric Li and a written reply by the Secretary for the Treasury, Mr Donald Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday);
Question:
Regarding the profits tax levied on the property business sector, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the property business sector has been sub-categorised as a separate type of economic activity among the sources of profits tax levied by the Government, so that the precise amount of the profits tax paid and its share of the profits tax can be identified; if so, what the figure and its share in the 1993-94 fiscal year were;
(b)
(c)
if the answer to (a) is in the negative, what was the proportion of the profits tax paid by the listed property companies to the total profits tax collected in the 1993-94 fiscal year; and
how long will the tax assessment and collection process take to reflect the situation of the property companies' sharp decrease in profits due to the fall in property prices in late 1994 and 1995, having regard to the fact that property companies usually enter their profits from the sale of property into their accounts at the end of the fiscal year, and that it takes time to go through the procedures of preparing the accounts, auditing, filing declaration and assessment of tax; and whether the decrease in profits tax can only be fully reflected in the 1997-98 fiscal year?
Answer:
In reply to the Honourable Member's questions -
(a)
for statistical purposes, the Inland Revenue Department operates a system of trade classifications which enables the profits tax contribution made by various business sectors to be identified. These statistics are published annually in Schedule 3 of the Annual Review of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue. However, it is not practicable to maintain records which would permit the precise amount of tax paid by every business sector to be ascertained.