TNAG-1641-FCO40-2288-Budget-of-Hong-Kong-1987 — Page 56

market, whether locally made or imported. It would remove the

need for local manufacturers to pay duty on imported tobacco, the vast bulk of which is subsequently exported in the form of

finished products. Under these circumstances there would be no

justification for maintaining a differential. I shall be giving

further thought to this in the coming months.

FEES AND CHARGES

116.

I turn now to fees and charges. Our policy remains

that services should generally be paid for by those who use them, unless a positive decision has been taken to deviate from this policy. It is of great importance in our low tax economy

that we do all we can to observe the principle that services

should not in general be subsidised. In this regard,

controlling officers are constantly encouraged to take the

initiative in proposing new fees and charges to ensure that

those services that are not a fair charge on the general taxpayer are paid for by those who benefit from them.

117.

For 1987-88, I intend to increase the following fees

-

and charges first, business registration fees; second, vehicle

and driving licence fees; and last, certain visa and travel

document fees (43). These specific increases will be in

addition to those departmental fees and charges coming up for their normal regular review in 1987. The increases will yield

$200 million in 1987-88 and $240 million in a full year.

Business Registration Fee

118.

The business registration fee was increased in the 1985 Budget (44). At present the annual charge is $500. I propose to increase the fee by 10% to $550. The fee will apply to all

registered businesses, but small businesses whose

(43) Details are in Appendix E.

(44) 1985 Budget Speech, paragraph 97.

monthly

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