TNAG-1727-FCO40-2440-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 105

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for sales tax to be imposed, for that

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might prove to be the lesser of two

pocr

two)

evils for the, people of Hong Kong either

K to pay sales tax on daily necessities such as rice, congee, and noodles as per The Homeble David ; or to face a

reduction in social welfare in areas such

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as medical care, education and housing.

During last year's Budget debate, I

mentioned in relation to indirect tax-

27

ation the need to ensure that such

ation

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taxes must not be imposed unless and

until they have satisfied the most strin-

gent tests of necessity and desirabil- ity? I still maintain that view.

Sir, I am proud of the stance taken by

hin!

many of my honourable colleagues in not

wanting to see sales tax introduced to

Hong Kong because they insist that the

tax burden should only fall on the 'haves', and not on the have-nots.

But

when

there may come a time when, heaven forbid, our economy turns sour and then Government is compelled to look for

And

In to

other alternatives. It would be tot-

ally unacceptable if the Government

could not come up with a solution

because it had not conducted any res-

earch on alternative methods of taxation such as sales tax. It is perhaps unfor- tunate for the Financial Secretary that

he should have raised this particular

topic against an unexpected surplus of

$10 billion. But when his motives are

properly understood, I think what he is

proposing is laudable.

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