28
-
Collection of air passenger departure tax
Following is a question by the Hon Howard Young and a reply by the Secretary for the Treasury, Mr Kwong Ki-chi, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether it will review the existing arrangement for the collection of the air departure tax and the method of sale of air departure tax coupons at Kai Tak Airport in order to achieve a more efficient way of collecting the tax, such as introducing the use of vending machines for the sale of air departure tax coupons at the airport?
Reply:
Mr President,
We review periodically the arrangement for the collection of the Air Passenger Departure Tax (APDT). For example, arising from such reviews and with Members' support, we enacted legislation recently to allow hotels to sell APDT coupons to their guests to obviate the need for them to pay separately at the airport on departure. The legislation will come into operation on 1 February 1996.
In considering alternative collection methods, we have to take into account their costs and efficiency. We did examine the feasibility of using vending machines in 1995. Apart from operational problems, our assessment was that the cost of collection of the APDT using vending machines would be higher than that under the current collection arrangements. At the present stage, therefore, we do not think it appropriate to introduce vending machines for the sale of APDT coupons.
End