22 May 2025獨媒#6813
網台《香港花生》公司及主持同被「查稅」質疑有針對性
The Hong Kong Journalists Association held a press conference yesterday, saying the Inland Revenue Department was pursuing tax matters involving at least eight media outlets and organisations and 20 people, with the total amount exceeding $1.7 million. On last night’s programme of the Hong Kong Peanut online platform, one of its hosts, Andrew Kwan Hang To, disclosed that he personally, his company, Hong Kong Peanut and almost all of the platform’s hosts, including Wong Ho-ming and Dickson Chau, had received similar requests for a “tax investigation”. Each case involved an amount of tens of thousands of dollars, and he believed there was a targeted element to those selected for the “tax investigation”.
記協昨日舉行記者會，指稅務局向至少8個媒體及機構，共20名人士追查稅項，合計款項逾170萬。網台《香港花生》昨晚的節目中，主持之一陶君行透露，他個人及其公司、《香港花生》及該網台幾乎所有主持，包括黃浩銘及周嘉發等，皆接獲類似「查稅」要求，每宗涉及金額達數萬元，認為納入「查稅」的對象有針對性。
21 May 2025集誌社#6811
傳媒被查稅｜ 8 媒體機構、20 記者及家人被查 有人年薪被估大兩倍、被安插商業登記
Following the harassment of several journalists last year, more journalists have been pursued by the Inland Revenue Department for taxes dating back several years. The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said at a press conference today (21st) that at least eight media platforms or organisations, including the HKJA, InMedia and The Witness, as well as at least 20 journalists and their family members, had been audited by the Inland Revenue Department and pursued for taxes dating back as far as seven years, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. In some cases, income allegedly underreported was assessed at nearly twice the person’s salary, a non-existent business registration was assigned to them, and all deposits into their bank accounts were treated as income.
HKJA chairperson Cheng Ka-yu criticised the Inland Revenue Department’s assessments as having no evidence or reasonable basis, describing them as “punishment before trial”. She said journalists had low incomes but were required to pay high taxes, while spending time and money to prove their innocence. This affected the operation of media organisations, created considerable pressure, and negatively affected press freedom and journalists’ integrity. She stressed: “Everyone would cooperate with and accept an investigation that is reasonable and evidence-based, but if they now say these are not being used as a tool to suppress the media, would anyone believe them?” The Inland Revenue Department refused to disclose details of the cases under investigation, saying only that the occupations or backgrounds of those being investigated would not affect its audit work.
計去年多名記者被滋擾後，再有記者被稅務局追收多年前稅款。記協今（21日）召開記者會，表示至少八個媒體平台或機構，包括記協、《獨立媒體》、《法庭線》等，及至少 20 名新聞工作者及其家人，被稅務局審查及追收早至七年前的稅款，涉款數十萬元。當中有人被估算短報的收入比薪金多近兩倍、被安插不存在的商業登記、銀行所有入帳均被當收入等。
記協主席鄭嘉如批評，稅務局的評核無任何證據和合理理由，屬「未審先罰」。她指新聞記者收入微薄，卻要付高額稅款，花時間、金錢自證清白，影響機構運作，構成相當大壓力，對新聞自由和記者誠信有負面影響。她強調，「合理有據嘅調查，大家會配合接受，但如果而家話唔係用呢啲嚟做工具打壓媒體，有冇人信呢？」稅務局拒披露受查個案資料，僅稱受查人士行業或背景不會影響查核工作。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
