2月11日，随着香港《2005年收入（取消遗产税）条例》正式生效，从1915年开征的遗产税在特区成为历史。按照香港原来的法律规定，如果财产拥有者在港资产超过750万港元，去世后就要交纳遗产税。取消遗产税，首先留住了香港的资金，遗产受益人无需缴税，以此更好吸引海外投资者将资产转移到香港，使香港成为国际资产管理中心。目前，取消遗产税已经是全球趋势，美国也决定在2010年前取消遗产税。

外电报道如下：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. "

外电中，estate duty就是"遗产税"。Estate在我们日常所说的real estate（房地产）中，指"the nature and extent of an owner's rights with respect to land （地产权）"；而在报道中出现的Estate侧重强调"the whole of one's possessions, especially all the property and debts left by one at death（死者留下的全部的遗产，包括财产和债务）。"

另外，请注意duty的用法，duty除了指"责任，职责"外，还用来表示"a tax charged by a government, especially on imports（一种由政府征收的税，尤指进口关税），如：I brought him a Valentine gift at the duty-free shop in the airport（我在机场的免税商店给他买了情人节礼物）。


（中国日报网站编）