XN000022-1996-11-29 — Page 18

16 -

10pc surcharge on tax overdue be imposed from next month

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will from next month (December) impose a 10 per cent surcharge on tax overdue for more than six months after the due date.

In calculating the surcharge, the original five per cent surcharge will also be included.

Announcing this at a press conference today (Friday), the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Mr Wong Ho-sang, said: "Before the surcharge is to be added, a newly-designed final payment notice will be sent to the default taxpayer specifying the deadline for payment of the overdue tax and the five per cent surcharge.

"If the overdue amount is not fully paid on or before the stipulated payment date, a further surcharge of 10 per cent will be imposed. Hence, defaulting taxpayers are advised to pay their outstanding tax early to avoid further penalty."

He said the surcharge was enforced in response to the recommendations made by the Public Accounts committee of the Legislative Council on tax recovery and the increase in workload would be met by working overtime in the meantime and deploying additional manpower from next year.

He also said IRD would claim the court fee of $630 and fixed costs, including the cost of $300 on service of writ and the additional amount of $40 for every defendant after the first defendant, incurred on each civil jurisdiction action taken for the recovery of unpaid tax.

"In addition, interest will be charged on judgment debt from the date of commencement of proceedings till full payment," Mr Wong added.

Mr Wong also announced IRD's programmes for the "Serving the community Week", which will take place from December 1 to 7.

The department will hold an exhibition on the ground and seventh floors of Revenue Tower between December 1 and 7. Seminars and guided tours for undergraduates, practising accountants and others will be conducted from December 2 and 6.

On IRD's other initiatives to better serve the public, Mr Wong said the IRD Home Page in Chinese was launched on October 4. Up to now, there are 1,500 "screens" in the IRD Home Page following the recent uploading of IRD Annual Report for 1995/96.