(Budget 2020) Salaries tax cut among measures to ease public financial burden

Measures announced by the Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in his budget speech today to ease the public's financial burden:

- Salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the year of assessment 2019/20 will be reduced by 100 percent, subject to a ceiling of HK$20,000, and will be reflected in the final tax payable for the year of assessment 2019/20. This will benefit 1.95 million taxpayers and reduce government revenue by HK$18.8 billion.

- Rates in respect of residential properties for four quarters of 2020-21 will be waived, subject to a ceiling of HK$1,500 per quarter for each rateable property. This is estimated to involve 2.93 million domestic properties and reduce government revenue by HK$13.3 billion.

- Extra allowance will be provided to eligible social security recipients, equal to one month of the standard rate Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments, Old Age Allowance, Old Age Living Allowance or Disability Allowance. Similar arrangements will apply to recipients of the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy. This will involve an expenditure of about HK$4.225 billion.

- One month’s rent for lower income tenants living in public rental units of the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society will be paid by the government, involving government expenditure of about HK$1.829 billion.

- The examination fees for school candidates sitting for the 2021 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination will be paid by the government, involving government expenditure of about HK$150 million.