The government uses market forces to auction land and get the highest possible price from developers. While we know this has seen the government rake in billions in income during many decades, one by-product is the costly property prices we need to pay. How many of us have heard stories of colleagues or friends making more in short-term real estate transactions than from their day job? What kind of impact does this have on the productivity of our economy? Do we not have enough day-traders in the stock market without the need for more of us speculating on property prices after work? By introducing a capital gains tax the government could better control rising speculative demand for property. At a time when the government is encouraging people to have bigger families, it is important it implements fiscal measures to allow a more stable property market. If we look at other mature economies - in the United States and Europe, for example - they all have some kind of measures to discourage speculation, and capital gains tax on property transactions seems a natural progression for Hong Kong. The funds from a capital gains tax could be directed to other areas such as urban planning, tree-planting and the redevelopment of ageing residential areas. The tax should aim at those speculators whose property transactions are bought and sold in less than three years. I understand that introducing a tax such as this would probably be unpopular, but we hold a moral obligation to our following generations to provide a better place for them to live. The quality of life in Hong Kong is already one of the lowest among developed economies, and many of us still remember the sombre state we were in during the late 1990s and the Sars epidemic. If property speculation is harnessed, we may one day see our living space per capita actually increase to become on a par with our neighbours. And political parties which seek to increase the quality of life of their constituents should embrace this tax measure as it will benefit the true stakeholders of local communities. Alan Fung, Sai Ying Pun
