In 2022-23 Budget, the Financial Secretary proposed the following measures:

Reducing profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the year of assessment 2021/22  (The relevant legislation was passed by the Legislative Council.)：The Financial Secretary proposed a one-off reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the year of assessment 2021/22 by 100%, subject to a ceiling of $10,000 per case.  The relevant legislation for the tax reduction was passed by the Legislative Council and gazetted on 14 April 2022.

Waiving business registration fees for 2022-23  (The relevant legislation was passed by the Legislative Council.)：The Revenue (Reduction of Business Registration Fees and Branch Registration Fees) Order 2022 comes into operation on 1 April 2022.

Introducing a tax deduction for domestic rental expenses  (This measure can only be implemented after completion of the relevant legislative process.)

As of 19 July 2020, Hong Kong, China has announced the following measures: 

PERSONAL TAX

► A one-off reduction of 100% of the salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for 2019/20, subject to a maximum reduction of HK$20,000. The reduction will be deducted directly from the taxpayer’s 2019/20 final tax payable. 

► Relief measures provided by the conditional waiver of surcharges for the settlement of demand notes by instalment for the tax year 2018/19. 

► Automatic deferral for payments of salaries tax and tax under personal assessment due in April, May and June 2020 by three months.

BUSINESS TAX

A one-off reduction of 100% of the profits tax for 2019/20, subject to a maximum reduction of HK$20,000. The reduction will be deducted directly from the taxpayer’s 2019/20 final tax payable.

► Relief measures provided by the conditional waiver of surcharges for the settlement of demand notes by instalment for the tax year 2018/19 

► Automatic deferral for payments of profits tax due in April, May and June 2020 by three months

► Extended due date for filing Profits Tax returns for 2019/20 from 17 August 2020 to 15 September 2020 (only for entities with accounting date falls between 1 and 31 December 2019)

OTHERS:

Job retention: Employment Support Scheme which provides wages subsidies to eligible employers to retain their employees. Subsidies calculated on the basis of 50% of wages (with a wage cap of HK$18,000 per month) for a period of six months 

Relief grants for hard-hit sectors: Provide a one-off relief grant estimated at HK$21 billion benefiting hard-hit sectors and industries 

Easing the cash flow and burden of businesses: Concessionary low-interest loans with Government guarantee for enterprises ► Extend the 75% waive of water and sewage charges payable by nondomestic accounts to November 2020 ► Waive the business registration fees for 2020-21 ► Waive registration fees for company annual returns for two years

Airport Authority – additional relief worth HK$2 billion to airlines and its immediate supporting operators 

Hong Kong Monetary Authority – adjust regulatory parameters to enable banks to lend, releasing a total lending capacity of HK$1,000 billion, and provide to clients “Principal moratorium” for a specified period and other sectorspecific measures to provide much needed liquidity 

Insurance Authority – facilitate all major insurance companies to offer grace periods for premium payments for holders of individual life, critical illness and medical policies for a specified period 

Bonds –Issue inflation-linked retail bonds and Silver Bonds totaling not less than HK$13 billion

(Updated: May 2022)

In the FY2021/22 budget announcement, the government plans to provide additional countercyclical support of 3.7 percent of GDP. Key measures include: (i) providing one-off relief measures to households and enterprises (HK$38 billion), (ii) issuing digital consumption vouchers worth of HK$5,000 for each eligible resident in installments (HK$36 billion), and (iii) creating 30,000 temporary jobs (HK$6.6 billion).

(Updated: August 2020)