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By Felix Chan A proposal to introduce a $20 departure tax at Lowu border control has been rejected by SAR travellers, who want its opening hours extended instead. About 65 per cent of 969 respondents surveyed by the Hong Kong-China Relations Strategic Development Research Fund last month opposed the introduction of a tax. When asked whether the tax would reduce their frequency of going to the mainland, the same proportion of people said there would be no change in their travelling habits. Sixty-eight per cent said they would spend the same amount of money in the mainland even with the introduction of a tax. "According to the Government's explanations, the $20 tax is not only to increase public income but also to encourage more people to spend their money locally," the fund's trustee, legislator Chan Yuen-han, said. "However, the survey results have clearly shown such a tax will be useless in achieving the latter objective." She said there would be enormous administrative difficulties if cross-border schoolchildren and workers were to be exempted as proposed. In addition, many respondents said the border control should remain open longer. It now opens at 6.30am and closes at 11.30pm. A third wanted it to open half an hour earlier and close half an hour later, while 30
per cent said it should stay open 24 hours a day. |
