Lawmakers urge FS to ditch remaining 'spicy' measures
Members of the C15+ group of lawmakers met Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Monday to express their hopes for his upcoming budget, with many of them calling for an end to all "spicy" property cooling measures and for no new taxes to be introduced. One of the group, Doreen Kong, said the stamp duties aren't appropriate given the current state of the market. “Why do we have such spicy measures? They are for preventing others from speculating on properties. But now if we look at the aspects, be it residential, commercial, or industrial properties, which ones are being speculated on?” she questioned.  “Now we are so desperate to have someone to speculate on them, but there's no one to speculate for now. So I believe the spicy measures must be removed and the sooner the better,” she said. Kong said the authorities should also consider delaying large scale infrastructure projects such as "Lantau Tomorrow Vision". Another of the lawmakers, Johnny Ng, said he hopes there won't be any tax increases, adding that he opposes the idea of new taxes, such as capital gains tax.  Andrew Lam, meanwhile, said new taxes could undermine the city’s competitiveness at a time when authorities need to stabilise investor confidence. Chan Siu-hung from the group called for more tax incentives for couples to have children.