Donald Tsang's 340K miles from official trips
May 31, 2012, 5:32 am
#1
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Donald Tsang's 340K miles from official trips
http://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=35402
(I think TVB reported 330K...maybe 10K just posted)
Interesting (translated): "The Office of the Chief Executive stated, the CE and civil servants must report miles accrued to their personal accounts, and if they cannot be redeemed for official travel prior to miles expiry, the CE and civil servants may be allowed to redeem them for personal travel on a case by case basis"
(I'm presuming the miles are Asia Miles, and Tsang is Diamond Plus ex officio)
I'm just puzzled at the office of CE's "policy" tho. The three corporates I worked for never asked us staff to attempt to redeem miles for flights - it's accepted that staff can keep this as a fringe benefit (tho it is acknowledged this is a soft bribe).
We let them keep miles; we take back vouchers for ipods (Virgin) and we ask staff to repay anything that has a clear cash value (e.g. cash rebates). Tho we never attempted to recover miles.
Civil service sounds tougher than us in this case. Tho I can't believe anyone in the civil service will seriously make an attempt to burn miles for official trips (even if the miles are earned from previous official trips, so it's just papering over.
Australia taxes work miles (Fringe Benefits Tax). (I didn't read Payne case properly)
(I think TVB reported 330K...maybe 10K just posted)
Interesting (translated): "The Office of the Chief Executive stated, the CE and civil servants must report miles accrued to their personal accounts, and if they cannot be redeemed for official travel prior to miles expiry, the CE and civil servants may be allowed to redeem them for personal travel on a case by case basis"
(I'm presuming the miles are Asia Miles, and Tsang is Diamond Plus ex officio)
I'm just puzzled at the office of CE's "policy" tho. The three corporates I worked for never asked us staff to attempt to redeem miles for flights - it's accepted that staff can keep this as a fringe benefit (tho it is acknowledged this is a soft bribe).
We let them keep miles; we take back vouchers for ipods (Virgin) and we ask staff to repay anything that has a clear cash value (e.g. cash rebates). Tho we never attempted to recover miles.
Civil service sounds tougher than us in this case. Tho I can't believe anyone in the civil service will seriously make an attempt to burn miles for official trips (even if the miles are earned from previous official trips, so it's just papering over.
Last edited by percysmith; Nov 12, 2014 at 4:12 am
May 31, 2012, 11:10 am
#2
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http://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=35402
(I think TVB reported 330K...maybe 10K just posted)
Interesting (translated): "The Office of the Chief Executive stated, the CE and civil servants must report miles accrued to their personal accounts, and if they cannot be redeemed for official travel prior to miles expiry, the CE and civil servants may be allowed to redeem them for personal travel on a case by case basis"
(I'm presuming the miles are Asia Miles, and Tsang is Diamond Plus ex officio)
I'm just puzzled at the office of CE's "policy" tho. The three corporates I worked for never asked us staff to attempt to redeem miles for flights - it's accepted that staff can keep this as a fringe benefit (tho it is acknowledged this is a soft bribe).
We let them keep miles; we take back vouchers for ipods (Virgin) and we ask staff to repay anything that has a clear cash value (e.g. cash rebates). Tho we never attempted to recover miles.
Civil service sounds tougher than us in this case. Tho I can't believe anyone in the civil service will seriously make an attempt to burn miles for official trips (even if the miles are earned from previous official trips, so it's just papering over.
Australia taxes work miles (Fringe Benefits Tax).
(I think TVB reported 330K...maybe 10K just posted)
Interesting (translated): "The Office of the Chief Executive stated, the CE and civil servants must report miles accrued to their personal accounts, and if they cannot be redeemed for official travel prior to miles expiry, the CE and civil servants may be allowed to redeem them for personal travel on a case by case basis"
(I'm presuming the miles are Asia Miles, and Tsang is Diamond Plus ex officio)
I'm just puzzled at the office of CE's "policy" tho. The three corporates I worked for never asked us staff to attempt to redeem miles for flights - it's accepted that staff can keep this as a fringe benefit (tho it is acknowledged this is a soft bribe).
We let them keep miles; we take back vouchers for ipods (Virgin) and we ask staff to repay anything that has a clear cash value (e.g. cash rebates). Tho we never attempted to recover miles.
Civil service sounds tougher than us in this case. Tho I can't believe anyone in the civil service will seriously make an attempt to burn miles for official trips (even if the miles are earned from previous official trips, so it's just papering over.
Australia taxes work miles (Fringe Benefits Tax).
).Wether private companies allows their staff to earn FF miles should not set a standard for public servants.
May 31, 2012, 3:01 pm
#3
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Govt of Canada policy for Full-Time Governor in Council Appointees
http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?l...9-eng.htm#13.2
"When redeemed for personal use, travel points must be declared as a taxable benefit in accordance with the Canada Revenue Agency's Interpretation Bulletin IT-470R (Consolidated) - Employee Fringe Benefits."
In the private sector, we generally keep and track+manage(here is the key) our own FF points and they are not taxable. I know some companies do ask employees to use points for work only, but it's too costly to track and enforce for most companies .
http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?l...9-eng.htm#13.2
"When redeemed for personal use, travel points must be declared as a taxable benefit in accordance with the Canada Revenue Agency's Interpretation Bulletin IT-470R (Consolidated) - Employee Fringe Benefits."
In the private sector, we generally keep and track+manage(here is the key) our own FF points and they are not taxable. I know some companies do ask employees to use points for work only, but it's too costly to track and enforce for most companies .
May 31, 2012, 4:54 pm
#5
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The problem with Donald is not about the miles, but misjudgment on travel, like unnecessary presidential suites.
Since the Audit Commission report did not mention everything in detail (like fare classes). So it is difficult to tell how many miles that he got.
Mile is the least issue as the public yells foul about his abuse of public fund.
Donald should learn from Jimmy Carter:
Former President Carter on Delta Air Lines flying to Barack Obama's Inauguration
BTW - Here is the basic U.S. Government policy:
1. Basically, with limited exceptions, everyone in coach (Feel free to upgrade on your own).
2. You keep your miles and upgrades. Tax Free.
3. Airfares are under contract - same price across the entire year.
Since the Audit Commission report did not mention everything in detail (like fare classes). So it is difficult to tell how many miles that he got.
Mile is the least issue as the public yells foul about his abuse of public fund.
Donald should learn from Jimmy Carter:
Former President Carter on Delta Air Lines flying to Barack Obama's Inauguration
BTW - Here is the basic U.S. Government policy:
1. Basically, with limited exceptions, everyone in coach (Feel free to upgrade on your own).
2. You keep your miles and upgrades. Tax Free.
3. Airfares are under contract - same price across the entire year.
May 31, 2012, 7:12 pm
#6
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The problem with Donald is not about the miles, but misjudgment on travel, like unnecessary presidential suites.
Since the Audit Commission report did not mention everything in detail (like fare classes). So it is difficult to tell how many miles that he got.
Mile is the least issue as the public yells foul about his abuse of public fund.
Donald should learn from Jimmy Carter:
Former President Carter on Delta Air Lines flying to Barack Obama's Inauguration
BTW - Here is the basic U.S. Government policy:
1. Basically, with limited exceptions, everyone in coach (Feel free to upgrade on your own).
2. You keep your miles and upgrades. Tax Free.
3. Airfares are under contract - same price across the entire year.
Since the Audit Commission report did not mention everything in detail (like fare classes). So it is difficult to tell how many miles that he got.
Mile is the least issue as the public yells foul about his abuse of public fund.
Donald should learn from Jimmy Carter:
Former President Carter on Delta Air Lines flying to Barack Obama's Inauguration
BTW - Here is the basic U.S. Government policy:
1. Basically, with limited exceptions, everyone in coach (Feel free to upgrade on your own).
2. You keep your miles and upgrades. Tax Free.
3. Airfares are under contract - same price across the entire year.
Since Percy have mentioned this is a soft bribe, I do agree that he ought to acknowledge this in some ways...
Anyway, methinks this is just a nail in the coffin for the entire episode, if he had behaved better with the hotels noone would be talking about these miles here. (who pays for Mrs Tsang anyway? him/herself or the govt?)
May 31, 2012, 8:44 pm
#7
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To be honest, I don't "feel" there is a problem for CE to travel in F. I don't even concern how he pocketed those miles.
The issue is does he become another Mileage Runners?
All those trips...hotels...Points...Points...Points...Miles. ..Miles...Miles...
May 31, 2012, 9:26 pm
#8
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Honestly, to him as a civil servant all his life, I can't believe how stupid he is for pulling crap like this. In a way, these conducts pretty much reflect the social problem/conflicts we see in HK.
May 31, 2012, 9:45 pm
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To be honest his action is kind of disgrace... yes they can pull the thing saying it's done by the secretary but I doubt he / she do stupid things like that without boss agree ..... will your secretary book a suite / First class flight without you saying a word? seriously doubt it
May 31, 2012, 10:07 pm
#10
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Jun 1, 2012, 12:41 am
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To be honest his action is kind of disgrace... yes they can pull the thing saying it's done by the secretary but I doubt he / she do stupid things like that without boss agree ..... will your secretary book a suite / First class flight without you saying a word? seriously doubt it
You should say MFM friends...
(No mean to offend his wife - as she is the true MFM person)
Jun 2, 2012, 10:58 pm
#12
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Honestly any job where you fly and get the FF mile I guess it's considered a side/benefit or perk for personal use.
But now that it's so publicized he cannot dare to use it for himself. So I hope he donates it to something charitable.
Although the law is on the book that you must use the miles for work travel, I doubt many people do, and especially the reporting taxes part for Canadians. haha
But now that it's so publicized he cannot dare to use it for himself. So I hope he donates it to something charitable.
Although the law is on the book that you must use the miles for work travel, I doubt many people do, and especially the reporting taxes part for Canadians. haha
Jun 3, 2012, 2:16 am
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Jun 3, 2012, 4:51 am
#14
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)
Slightly OT I wonder if it is easier to evade fringe benefits tax if a Canadian/Australian redeems through a foreign carrier on a foreign program? If so, maybe Tsang's AA (gasp!)
Slightly OT I wonder if it is easier to evade fringe benefits tax if a Canadian/Australian redeems through a foreign carrier on a foreign program? If so, maybe Tsang's AA (gasp!)
Jun 3, 2012, 11:23 pm
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)
Slightly OT I wonder if it is easier to evade fringe benefits tax if a Canadian/Australian redeems through a foreign carrier on a foreign program? If so, maybe Tsang's AA (gasp!)
Slightly OT I wonder if it is easier to evade fringe benefits tax if a Canadian/Australian redeems through a foreign carrier on a foreign program? If so, maybe Tsang's AA (gasp!)
I am not sure about Australian. But I am pretty much sure that Canadian are more AP than AA. The reason? Ease of earning.