PRESS RELEASE

(Source : Government Information Centre)
 

Revamped IRD Website more informative

************************************************

The website of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has been revamped to facilitate the public in obtaining more detailed tax information and to enhance the transparency of the department's work.

"To meet the growing demand of the public, the revamping exercise was conducted to enrich the content of the website and to facilitate easy navigation and information searching," the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Mrs Alice Lau, said today (September 8).

The new website features a professional design with clear hyperlinks to pages of different content and new functional tools. It provides updated information on tax legislation, procedures, internal policy and some frequently-asked questions and answers, as well as a variety of electronic services such as the lodgment of e-forms and self-help programme for salaries tax computation. It also contains software for returning emoluments of employees' remuneration for downloading free of charge.

"The website serves as an important means of promoting communication between the department and the public. It helps to enhance not only their tax knowledge and voluntary compliance, but also their understanding of the work of our department," Mrs Lau said.

First launched in May 1996, the content of the IRD website has developed significantly over the years, with the number of 'A4' pages of static information increasing from 500 to 3,000 as at last month. The number of annual visitors has increased by 40 times, from 30,000 visits in 1996/97 to 1.26 million in 2000/01.

Suggestions on the revamped website (https://www.info.gov.hk/ird) are welcomed.

End/Saturday, September 8, 2001

NNNN