Hong Kong Tax Protest

Thousands Protest Sales Tax in Hong Kong

Nearly 3,000 people marched from a downtown park in Hong Kong to government headquarters Sunday to protest a proposal to levy a sales tax in the territory, arguing it will hurt local businesses.

Protesters carried signs saying, "Say no to sales tax" and chanted "no to GST."

"Our costs will be high. We expect many restaurants to not be able to take it and shut down," Woo Chu, a restaurant industry association official, said in an interview aired on Cable TV.

The pro-business and traditionally pro-government Liberal Party, which organized Sunday's march, said in a statement that the demonstrators came from the retail, logistics, jewelry, restaurant, cosmetics, fashion and real-estate sectors.

In my opinion, there's a case to be made for going from an income tax to a consumption tax, but that's not what's going on here. What's being proposed is a GST being placed on top of the current system, that's why it should be opposed.