ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I'll add that marginal rates are not a very good measure of "taxation". Our tax code is so complex, that it is tough to know what anyone pays, and tough to compare one time frame to another.
Now, with a simple system like this, we could make some comparisons over time. And then we could have abetter idea what works and what doesn't. That sounds good to me:
dex, I skimmed over that article - I don't have time now, but maybe you would like to start a new thread on that - I think it is a great topic, and this one is already getting long.
A friend of mine travels there each year, his wife has an annual business trip there and he tags along. He loves it, raves about the place. He's got some good stories.
There are so many "highlights" from that article, a few:
And the food is incredible!
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-ERD50
Now, with a simple system like this, we could make some comparisons over time. And then we could have abetter idea what works and what doesn't. That sounds good to me:
CF&P Foundation Prosperitas, March 2007: The Hong Kong Tax System -- Key Features and Lessons for Policy Makers
[SIZE=-1]Even after 60 years, the entire tax code is only about 200 pages[/SIZE]
dex, I skimmed over that article - I don't have time now, but maybe you would like to start a new thread on that - I think it is a great topic, and this one is already getting long.
A friend of mine travels there each year, his wife has an annual business trip there and he tags along. He loves it, raves about the place. He's got some good stories.
There are so many "highlights" from that article, a few:
- [SIZE=-1]Hong Kong has a low-rate optional flat tax of 16 percent on personal income. Taxpayers can choose an alternative system with graduated rates, though the top rate in this system is only 17 percent.[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]- [SIZE=-1]There is no Pay-As-You-Earn (that is, no withholding of tax on income from employment) in Hong Kong, meaning that taxpayers pay their entire income tax liability themselves (usually twice a year).
[/SIZE]- [SIZE=-1]Corporate income is taxed at a flat rate of 17.5 percent.[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The Hong Kong government's main sources of revenue ....... [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]; and the interest on the government's accumulated reserves (which has sometimes covered as much as 10 percent of public spending).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Hong Kong has no general sales tax, no VAT and no GST.
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]capital gains are simply not taxable.[/SIZE]
And the food is incredible!
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-ERD50