Political situation
Written by: Wu Zhuoan
2021-02-14 07:00
Last update date: 2021-02-14 07:00
The new "Budget" will be published at the end of this month. Many established political parties have advocated the distribution of consumer vouchers to the citizens of Hong Kong. They also proposed the introduction of new taxes to achieve "secondary distribution" by broadening the tax base.
Li Zhaobo, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, co-director of the International Trade and Chinese Enterprise Course, accepted an interview with "Hong Kong 01", explaining the pros, cons and feasibility of various initiatives.
Li Zhaobo pointed out that the administrative cost of distributing consumer vouchers is high, and the scope of consumer vouchers may be controversial. In addition, Hong Kong’s political antagonism is serious. If consumer vouchers are introduced, it may become a political referendum. "A certain color store accepts consumer vouchers. Is it embarrassing for the government to reveal the data?"
Regarding the proposal of a political party to restore the inheritance tax, Li Zhaobo believes that as a wealth management center in Hong Kong, the restoration of the inheritance tax may have a fund transfer effect.
Li Zhaobo, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, co-director of the International Trade and Chinese Enterprise Course, received a video interview recently.
The promotion of unemployment assistance is expected to cost only more than one billion per month
Hong Kong is sitting on a surplus of 800 billion yuan. Some people think that the government should take drastic measures and introduce more non-recurring relief measures to save the Hong Kong economy that has been hit hard by the epidemic. The Financial Secretary, Chen Maobo, clearly stated that he would "do what we should do" for the future. Prepare for the fiscal deficit.
Li Zhaobo believes that the current economic and unemployment situation is more serious than last year. Assuming that the entire population will send 10,000 yuan, it will cost about 70 billion yuan. He believes that the government has the ability to spend tens of billions more to "spend sugar."
Li Zhaobo also believes that there is a need to set up unemployment assistance. He pointed out that Singapore can refer to the example of Singapore to distribute subsidies to eligible persons.
He assumes that 200,000 people are unemployed and more than 100,000 people apply for assistance. They only spend more than one billion yuan each month. The government definitely has sufficient financial capacity to support relevant policies.
Li Zhaobo continued that Singapore has already adopted different measures to specifically support people affected by the epidemic. Supermarkets and department stores that are less affected by the epidemic will receive less subsidies, and the convention and exhibition industry and tourism will receive more subsidies. He believes that administrative costs should not be applied. Waiting for an excuse, refused to set up unemployment assistance, "I don’t agree with the government’s explanation that there are many problems with the peace of mind travel itself. The government has followed suit. The problem is the details of your (government) review."
High administrative cost of consumer coupons
Formal members and political parties such as Tian Beichen and the Liberal Party suggested the introduction of consumer vouchers. Li Zhaobo believes that Hong Kong's electronic payment system is not widely available in the Mainland. The cost of introducing electronic consumer vouchers is high, and the distribution of paper consumer vouchers is also difficult.
He mentioned that the scope of consumer vouchers may be controversial. If consumer vouchers are only applicable to the retail industry, the catering industry may be dissatisfied. There will also be demands in the beauty, fitness, and tutoring industries.
He also mentioned that Hong Kong’s political antagonism is serious. If consumer vouchers are introduced or become a political referendum to a certain degree, "a certain color store collects consumer vouchers and reveals the data. The government is embarrassed?" Therefore, he thinks. Sending money is better than giving vouchers.
The DAB earlier proposed the "Reform Hong Kong" initiative. When it comes to the reform of the secondary distribution mechanism, it hopes to push the government to review the tax system and repair loopholes in social security, including proposals to study the increase in property value-added tax and inheritance tax.
Li Zhaobo believes that Hong Kong, as a wealth management center, coupled with the anti-revision campaign the year before and the "Hong Kong National Security Law" last year, people may worry that assets "have access to (Hong Kong), but cannot be obtained." If the estate tax is restored, it may be Set off a fund transfer effect.
However, Li Zhaobo agreed that the tax base should be broadened, such as the introduction of a commodity sales tax, an increase in profits tax, and an increase in progressive property tax for property speculation.
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