In his Budget delivered today (February 26), the Financial Secretary proposed a number of tax measures.


The Financial Secretary proposed a 75 per cent reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the year of assessment
2013-14, subject to a ceiling of $10,000 per case. This measure will cost the Government $10.2 billion, benefitting about 1.87 million taxpayers.


The tax reduction will reduce the amount of tax payable by taxpayers for the year of assessment 2013-14. Taxpayers should file their profits tax
returns and tax returns for individuals for the year of assessment 2013-14, to be issued in the coming April and May respectively, as usual. Upon
enactment of the relevant legislation, the Inland Revenue Department will effect the reduction in the final assessment. Tax bills, with the reduction
duly reflected, will be issued starting from about late July 2014. As usual, profits tax and personal assessment bills will fall due starting from
November this year, and salaries tax in January 2015.


The proposed tax reduction will only be applicable to the final tax for the year of assessment 2013-14, but not to the provisional tax of the same
year. Therefore, taxpayers are still required to pay the provisional tax on time as stipulated in the demand notes that have been issued to them
despite the proposed reduction. The provisional tax paid will, in accordance with the Inland Revenue Ordinance, be applied in payment of the final
tax for the year of assessment 2013-14 and provisional tax for the year of assessment 2014-15. Excess balance, if any, will be refunded.


The proposed tax reduction is not applicable to property tax. Nevertheless, individuals with rental income, if eligible for personal assessment,
may be able to enjoy such reduction under personal assessment.


For taxpayers electing for personal assessment, the reduction will be based on their tax payable under personal assessment. It might be different
from the amount of reduction they would get if they were not assessed under personal assessment. The exact position will need to be evaluated case
by case. Individuals having business or rental income may make election for personal assessment in their tax returns for the year of assessment
2013-14. The department will check if the election will reduce the amount of tax payable in each case, and assess each taxpayer in the way most
advantageous to him.


In addition to the one-off tax reduction, the Financial Secretary proposed to increase the allowances for maintaining parents or grandparents and
to raise the deduction ceiling for elderly residential care expenses to alleviate taxpaying providers' burden. These measures will benefit about
550 000 taxpayers, costing the Government about $300 million a year. They will be effective from the year of assessment 2014-15 upon enactment of
the relevant legislation.


On stamp duty, the Financial Secretary proposed to waive the stamp duty for the trading of all exchange traded funds. This will help promote the
development, management and trading of ETFs in Hong Kong.


The above proposed tax measures will be effected by amending the relevant ordinances. Details of the proposals and examples of tax calculations
are available on the website of the Inland Revenue Department (www.ird.gov.hk) for the public's reference. They can also be obtained through the
fax hotline 2598 6001.