I refer to the letter 'A huge tax bill' (August 26).
In Hong Kong, salaries tax is capped at a maximum 15.5 per cent of salary, or 16 per cent with effect from 2004-05.
In practice, the current average actual tax payment is 6.7 per cent of salary.
These are lower than the rates at which most other governments tax personal income. And contrary to what your reader suggested, our profits tax rate, at 17.5 per cent, is higher than the salaries tax rate.
We agree that we should keep government taxes low. But, at the same time, the government does need tax revenue to pay for infrastructure and public services such as roads, schools, medical and health services, maintenance of law and order and other services required by the community.
It is for the community to decide collectively how we should strike the balance on the above and how we should distribute the tax burden among various sectors of the society. We, therefore, welcome the views expressed by your reader.