(The Standard P.6 14 Feb 2013) Four in every five people hope that Financial
Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah will announce tax cuts (減稅),
electricity subsidies and rent waivers (減免租金) for public
housing tenants (公屋租戶) in his budget at the end of the month.
More than three in five also hope for
some tax relief (豁免稅) on money spent on children's education
while nearly half want to see allowances for medical insurance.
The telephone poll (民意測驗) of 850 residents was conducted from January 25 to January 30 by the
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (民建聯) before
the Lunar New Year holiday.
Legislator Starry Lee Wai-king said the
results show that people are not benefiting from Hong Kong's prosperity (興旺) and "surging inflation (通貨膨脹) has devalued (貶值) their income and worsened (惡化) their living standard."
Thirty-four percent believe the economy
will get worse this year, while only 10percent think otherwise.
"Uncertainty in the economy has
caused some concern while some are afraid a property bubble (樓市泡沫)
is in place," Lee said.
Red packets for the Lunar New Year
reflected this.
Most residents said they would spend
about the same as last year but some planned to cut back because of
inflation and heavier financial burdens (財政負擔).
Nearly 30percent said their fattest red
packet would be HK$20, while fewer than 10percent said their largest packet
would be HK$500.
More than 30percent would cut back on
festive clothing and gifts.
The DAB recommends the government help
out the poor, the elderly and most especially the "N-nothing
group," which has not benefited from past budgets because they do not
receive welfare, pay taxes or live in public housing.
"The government has done a lot with
the Community Care Fund (關愛基金), but there are people who are still living outside
the government's safety net," Lee said.
According to audit firm KPMG, the
government will have a surplus of HK$23.7 billion this financial year.
KPMG
tax partner Jennifer Wong Hau-yee said earlier this month the government
has underestimated the revenue (低估稅收)
from land sales, stamp duty (印花稅) and tax collection.
But she said Hong Kong will probably see
a deficit (赤字) in
the 2013-14 fiscal year, thanks to increased spending on housing and
infrastructure projects (基建項目).
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The prospect of surplus will be over than 500 billion for the financial year 2012-2013. Most residents such as the middle-class, “N-nothings” and the grass roots, even the underprivileged therefore hope to benefit the budgets, to get tax breaks and receive welfare.
回覆刪除I recently learnt news about some citizens hope the expectation of sweeteners in the Budget 2013-2014. Some expected there would be another round of cash handouts. One claimed she as an “N-nothing” citizen said only cash could help ease her plight.
The candy of cash handouts to all permanent residents, who are over the age of 18, is not a perfect scheme for the Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah to announce that policy once again. It is because many people spent the recent handouts of HK$6,000 on electric products and travel. Some meddle-class said they did not need that money.
In my opinion, there is no need to waste the government money by cash handouts to all those residents. The government should help the needy. Besides, the “N-nothing group” and the poor elderly are facing hardship. The government should care for them, to relieve their difficulties and make the elderly satisfy and to enjoy their living.
Billy Chan