Not only corporations but sometimes also the governments need to be liked by people. They also use giveways to achieve that. This task is always easier when then government coffers are swelling with cash.

In the weeks before the budget speech by Hong Kong financial secretary there was quite a big pressure from the community to return some money back to taxpayers. The predicted budget surplus of almost USD15 billion made many people feel that they are simply taxed too much. That somehow is not the case in Hong Kong but with a surplus like that, some tax concessions were widely expected.

The government clearly is in a big need to be loved by people because what the budget brought was beyond expectations. Lowering the income and corporate taxes by 1% (to 15% and 16.5%), raising the tax free allowance (exempting another 75,000 people from paying taxes) and introducing one off tax refunds are all very good steps and save quite a lot of money to those who have to pay the taxes.

But what an unexpected free gift was added to all of the above - the import duties on beer and wine were abolished with an immediate effect ! There are duties imposed pretty much only on tobacco and alcohol in Hong Kong, with the latest figures at 40% import duty on wine and 20% on beer. This is gone now . The official reason is the intention to turn Hong Kong into major wine trading hub.

I believe the purpose of this cheap booze giveaway is to keep us all merry . In any case, I am not complaining. So, cheers !

Popularity: 18% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Subscribe to BizGiftGuru by Email

Read More

Many companies, especially event organizers, like to motivate their potential customers, participants or visitors to make up their mind quickly. The sooner the tickets sell the better. And so they come up with all sorts of early bird incentives. The most common ones are the Early Bird Discounts. When people know they can save if they buy early, they go and buy early.

Some companies go the other way. They offer no discount but throw in something extra instead. When people know the price is the same today as it will be tomorrow, they will buy today if they get some extra early bird value.

The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix organizers have a neat way to motivate people to purchase the tickets early. The early birds become their GP Advantage Members. It probably does not cost them too much money but it certainly does the trick. It did work on me . I only found out about this “something extra” by chance when I went online to check out the tickets. (OK, not letting people know about the promotion is not exactly a sign of great marketing from the organizers) I realized that I have only a day or two to grab the early bird value. And so I did. The ticket would cost me the same if I waited few days. But it would not come with a 4 days access to the trackside bar and a pit straight walk pass for the morning before the race. OK, I admit, I am an F1 freak.

Popularity: 16% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Subscribe to BizGiftGuru by Email

Read More