Week 1: Negative Income Tax

For our first week, we would like authors and contributors to write about the Negative Income Tax, particularly its viability in Hong Kong and of course the implications it may have.  We would like authors to focus especially on how the tax would play out in Hong Kong, though examples from abroad can also be considered.

In order to assist readers (and perhaps writers also), we will follow a commonplace definition of the NIT: A progressive tax system where individuals earning below a certain amount is entitled to a lump sum payment that is a fraction (at the negative tax rate) of the difference between the limit and level that the individual is earning.

The definition above is intentionally framed to be distinct from a guaranteed minimum income system or other welfare systems.  For more background information, follow this link to the Wikipedia article.