Departure levy idea fails to get off the ground with public

By Annette Chiu
Copyright 2001 South China Morning Post Ltd.
Article date: August 7, 2001
 

Cross-border travellers hit out yesterday at the prospect of an $18 land and sea departure tax.

The consultation paper says the departure tax could be imposed on all outbound travellers. The cost of collection and administration would be relatively low and it would be difficult for people to evade the tax. David Wong, a 50-year-old salesman who has to commute daily to the mainland, said such a tax would prove to be a heavy burden for him. "I live in Shenzhen but I have to go to work in Hong Kong every day. My eight-year-old has also come back to Sheung Shui for school. If we have to pay $18 each for every departure, it will be a very heavy burden for our family."

Hong Kong-based businesswoman Avelina Refuncion, 47, who has a house in Guangzhou and travels there two or three times a week, said she might sell up if such a departure tax was introduced.

"It would be more expensive to go back to China if there were a tax. I think I would stop going back and I may consider selling my house. It is not the right thing to do," Ms Refuncion said.

Teddy Wong, 47, an interior designer who crosses the border every fortnight to visit his wife on the mainland, said it was not a suitable time to introduce such a tax. "The economic situation in Hong Kong is still bad . . . I think the Government should only consider it when the economy gets better," he said.

British tourist Claire Keegan, 28, who planned to return to the mainland through Hong Kong, said she was ready to pay the departure tax.

"I was quite surprised that I did not need to pay the tax when I went to Beijing. I think the idea sounds all right," she said.

According to the paper, about $900 million could be collected if an $18 departure tax was introduced.
 

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