‘At last, serious action on Hong Kong’s competitiveness, but shrinking workforce is a huge worry’
Shirley Yuen welcomes tax measures announced in the budget and says the financial chief was right to resist the urge to dole out more treats
As far as budgets for caretaker financial secretaries go, Paul Chan should be applauded for doing a reasonable job in his maiden, albeit possibly last, budget address.
He didn’t go mad and try to win popularity points by handing out treats to the public or to business. He tried to be inclusive in giving some taxpayers’ money back to the public. This was a sensible decision because at the end of the day there is only so much any outgoing administration can do. Also, it would have been irresponsible to empty the coffers needlessly.
From the business community’s perspective, it is a relief to see that the government is finally taking steps to seriously examine Hong Kong’s competitiveness by acting on our idea, submitted year after year, to set up a tax policy unit. This is important because a low and simple tax regime is not enough.
We need to remind ourselves that other economies have already implemented or are planning to roll out very attractive tax measures
We need a policy framework that also enables Hong Kong to compete meaningfully, and we need to dedicate resources accordingly to drive these changes. At the same time, we need to remind ourselves that other economies have already implemented or are planning to roll out very attractive tax measures. We, on the other hand, are just setting up a unit to study what we need to do. Needless to say, we have some catching up to do.
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has been asking the government to examine as a matter of urgency our proposal for a two-tier profits tax to help start-ups and small businesses, as well as an R&D tax rebate.