TWO EXERCISES to solicit public views on whether to legalise soccer betting and how to broaden the tax base will end later this week. Officials, however, are unlikely to be any wiser on how to tackle the contentious topics. The only lesson they can draw from the consultations is perhaps how not to conduct them in the future.
There is nothing wrong with the Government trying to keep its finger on the pulse of the community by encouraging residents to speak up. After all, as Sir Winston Churchill put it, 'The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground.' Yet, it is equally hard for citizens to look up to the leaders who keep asking the public for their opinions at a bad time.
On August 6, the Advisory Committee on New Broader-based Taxes, headed by former legislator Moses Cheng Mo-chi, set out 13 options for ensuring a steady income for the treasury. Even though the document makes clear that the only one of these it considers viable is a sales tax, Mr Cheng insists that his panel does not have any preference.
The consultation exercise on these proposals ends this weekend, but many of those who bothered to respond did so only to remind the authorities that they were wasting their time. The public is simply not in a mood to contemplate how best to dip deeper into their pockets. It is as inappropriate as selling insurance policies at a funeral. The SAR needs to plan ahead for future contingencies, but the burning issue of the day is how to stimulate internal consumption.
People are demanding rates reductions, tax breaks and government guarantees for them to restructure their mortgage loans. So the majority view that results from such a consultation exercise is bound to be biased against new taxes, even if they ensure a balanced budget in the long run.
Meanwhile, the consultation exercise on soccer gambling - which ends on Friday - has generated polarised responses. Bureaucrats have again insisted they are neutral on the issue, even though their preference for legalising betting is obvious. The authorities are positive that regulating football gambling is the best way to eliminate illegal betting, and thus deny triad gangs of an estimated $20 billion of revenue a year. The proceeds could probably then be taxed, so boosting the treasury's coffers.