As Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung ponders the final wording of his Budget speech, I suggest he thinks about the implications of setting the land and sea departure tax at $18. Is this figure set to create the maximum number of new jobs and to inconvenience the public as much as possible, or to maximise revenue? There will have to be another line of counters to collect the tax, and with passengers slowly counting out $18, it being checked, or with change having to be given, the time to negotiate this will be maximised. This will create more jobs, to keep delays acceptable, which will reduce the net increase in income. With a $20 tax the cost of collecting will be at least halved, a single note or two coins being that much easier to handle will speed transactions, and will avoid the large number of coins needed to be handled every day. As to the extra cost, the choice of a short queue for $20 or a long queue for $18 would sort out this. Why not make this the Octopus queue, with $20 for cash payments to reduce costs? PETER SUNDERLAND Discovery Bay
