TNAG-1725-FCO40-2438-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 47

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Tobacco

80.

Members will recall

the

that last month this Council

approved the Dutiable

the Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance 1988,

which amended

II of Part

to Schedule

the Dutiable

Commodities Ordinance in order to remove the duty then payable on a weight basis on the import of unmanufactured tobacco and cigarettes, and to replace it with a duty payable per 1,000 cigarettes. The duty rate imposed of $165 per 1,000 cigarettes was revenue neutral; the rates for other items in the Schedule

were unchanged.

81.

ΤΟ

Tobacco duty rates were last revised in 1987 (34). keep all these rates broadly in line with inflation, I propose to increase the duty on cigarettes from $165 to $175 per 1,000 sticks. The duty on cigars will be increased from $220 to $233 a kilogram; on smoking tobacco from $200 to $212 a kilogram; and on Chinese prepared tobacco from $43 to $45.50 a kilogram (35). These increases come into effect this afternoon. I estimate the additional revenue yield to be $69 million in 1988-89.

Fees and charges

82.

I turn now to fees and charges. For 1988-89, I

first, increase the following fees and charges

-

bank secondly,

and

propose to vehicle and driving licence fees; deposit-taking company licence and registration fees; thirdly, passenger embarkation and berthing fees; and, lastly, postal and telecommunication fees and charges.

(34) 1987 Budget Speech, paragraph 111.

Further

(35) If the full duty increase is passed on to consumers, the average price

per packet of cigarettes will increase by about 20 cents. details can be found in Appendix F(1).

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/Vehicle