Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Wednesday announced some relief measures to ease the economic burden on the public, although the assistance to taxpayers has been reduced from previous years.

About 2.06 million taxpayers will receive a reduction of up to HK$3,000 on their salaries tax or tax under personal assessment for the 2023/24 financial year. That's down from a maximum reduction of HK$6,000 for the previous year.

About 160,000 businesses will also receive a reduction of up to HK$3,000 on their profits tax.

Homeowners will receive a rates concession of up to HK$1,000 for the first quarter of the next financial year. The concession was offered for two quarters for the previous year.

Recipients of social security benefits, including the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, Old Age Allowance, Old Age Living Allowance, Disability Allowance and Working Family Allowance will receive an allowance equal to half the standard monthly rate of their benefits. The same arrangement was offered last year.

This year's budget sweeteners add up to HK$11.5 billion, down 80 percent from a year ago.

"I hope people will understand we have really tried our very best. We have a few years' budget deficit, this year it's going to be a deficit again," Chan told a press conference in the afternoon.

"So there is certain limitation as to the room within which we can hand out those sweeteners.

"We think it's appropriate for us to still give some relief support, but we have to scale it back, a little bit."

And the government will not hand out a new round of consumption vouchers, which had been distributed to the public for the past three years.
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Last updated: 2024-02-28 HKT 16:50