2月11日，隨著香港《2005年收入（取消遺產稅）條例》正式生效，從1915年開征的遺產稅在特區成為歷史。按照香港原來的法律規定，如果財產擁有者在港資產超過750萬港元，去世后就要交納遺產稅。取消遺產稅，首先留住了香港的資金，遺產受益人無需繳稅，以此更好吸引海外投資者將資產轉移到香港，使香港成為國際資產管理中心。目前，取消遺產稅已經是全球趨勢，美國也決定在2010年前取消遺產稅。

外電報道如下：The Revenue (Abolition of Estate Duty) Ordinance 2005 ["the Ordinance"] comes into effect on 11 February 2006.

"There were changes in circumstances sinceEstate Dutywas first introduced in 1915," noted Mr Chan, a partner at E&Y, adding that the original objective of the tax when brought in was to "enable the whole community to benefit upon the death of persons who had grown very rich partly through the appreciation in value of assets and the progress of Hong Kong to which the whole community contributed. "

外電中，estate duty就是"遺產稅"。Estate在我們日常所說的real estate（房地產）中，指"the nature and extent of an owner's rights with respect to land （地產權）"；而在報道中出現的Estate側重強調"the whole of one's possessions, especially all the property and debts left by one at death（死者留下的全部的遺產，包括財產和債務）。"

另外，請注意duty的用法，duty除了指"責任，職責"外，還用來表示"a tax charged by a government, especially on imports（一種由政府征收的稅，尤指進口關稅），如：I brought him a Valentine gift at the duty-free shop in the airport（我在機場的免稅商店給他買了情人節禮物）。


（中國日報網站編）