A regular salary might guarantee a stable livelihood, but it is hardly deemed as an effective way to make a fortune.

The common sense, however, is challenged in Hong Kong on Monday, when a government report revealed that the city's top earner last year paid salaries tax as high as 101 million HK dollars (13 million U.S. dollars).

The Inland Revenue Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), who published the report, didn't name the city's top earner.

Many people were surprised to know that a salary earner can make so much money that he had to pay tax over 100 million HK dollars.

When told the news, a Hong Kong young man just couldn't believe it and took it as a joke, according to the footage of the local Cable TV.

Calculated by Hong Kong's tax rate of 16 percent, the top earner, dubbed "King Employee" in Cantonese, is expected to make 631 million HK dollars (81.40 million US dollars) a year.

However, the Inland Revenue Department said the amounts of tax paid by a few taxpayers were particularly high, probably because they were in receipt of income other than salaries.

Bonuses, commissions, allowances and share option gains also form part of the assessable income of a taxpayer.

In the financial year of 2005, Hong Kong's top 10 highly paid employees paid more salaries tax than 2004, ranging from 13 million HK dollars (1.68 million U.S. dollars) to 101 million HK dollars (13 million U.S. dollars).

In total, the city last year collected salaries tax of 39 billion HK dollars (5.03 billion U.S. dollars), a 9-percent increase over the total of 35.90 billion HK dollars (4.63 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous year.

Hong Kong's top earner for profits tax paid 2.54 billion HK dollars (327.65 million US dollars) last year, while the total profits tax assessed increased 16 percent to 66.90 billion HK dollars (8.63 billion U.S. dollars).

The increases in salaries tax and profits tax are evidence of the favorable business performance and improved labor market prevailing last year, said the department.

Source: Xinhua