Party
is not calling for tax on helpers
James
Tien
December 31st 2002 South China Morning Post (Letter to Editor)
Referring to your reader Mr. Brian Apthorp's accusation of December 27 over the Liberal Party's proposal to impose a $500 levy per month on employers of foreign domestic helpers, I would like to make the following response.
Mr. Apthorp accused us of taxing domestic helpers. That's not true, we're suggesting taxing employers like Mr. Apthorp who can afford to hire a domestic helper. Regarding the reduction in the minimum wage to $3160, I suggest Mr. Apthorp reads my article to SCMP published on November 22. He has either not read it, or has missed the point entirely.
Mr. Apthorp quoted Lord Camden's statement in 1766 "Taxation and representation are inseparable". Unfortunately, today in year 2003, many countries tax people but do not give them a vote. I worked and invested in USA for many years, paid a lot of taxes to the US government and I never had a vote.
Mr. Apthorp also accused me of not suggesting a tax on my constituents, i.e. Commercial (First). He's wrong. The Liberal Party's proposal for next year's Budget includes, a reduction of 6-7% on civil service pay ($7 billion), a 1% increase on company profit ($2.8 billion), a 1% increase on standard salary tax ($0.4 billion), plus new taxes such as a land departure tax ($1 billion), soccer betting tax ($1.5 billion) and domestic helper's employers tax ($1.2 billion).
Finally, I would like to remind Mr. Apthorp that other than the Liberal Party, the Breakfast Group, DAB, HKPA & many other independent legislators, all independently support this levy.