On Wednesday 23 February, The Hong Kong Government announced the annual budget for 2022-2023 which included one-off tax cuts, various subsidies, and property concessions.
Find out from us how the budget will affect you, your business, Hong Kong’s economy and the key take-ways for enterprises based in, or planning to enter, the Hong Kong market.
In the 2022-2023 Hong Kong budget the government announced that they will be spending more than HK$170 billion (£16.1 billion) to fight the pandemic and support the economy, a day after authorities extended the current social distancing measures and the 'Big 9' countries flight ban to 20 April 2022.
Enterprises will benefit from a package of measures worth HK$11.3 billion which includes:
- Reduce profits tax for the year of assessment 2021-22 by 100%, subject to a ceiling of HKD$10,000 (benefiting some 151,000 businesses).
- Waive business registration fees for 2022-23 (aimed at benefiting 1.5 million business operators).
- Extend the application period of 100% guarantee low-interest loan for enterprises to the end of 2022, raise loan ceiling from HK$6 million to HK$9 million, extend repayment period from eight to ten years.
- Provide rates concession for non-domestic properties for four quarters in 2022-23, subject to a ceiling of HK$5,000 per quarter in the first two quarters and a ceiling of HK$2,000 per quarter in the remaining two quarters for each relatable property (to benefit some 430,000 non-domestic properties).
- Allocate HK$13.2 billion to create around 30,000 time-limited jobs.
For individuals:
- Electronic Consumption Voucher of HK$10,000 (up from HK$5,00 last year) to be issued in instalments to each eligible Hong Kong permanent resident and new arrival aged 18 or above.
- Salary tax to be reduced by 100%, subject to a ceiling of HK$10,000 (to benefit some 2.01 million taxpayers).
- Rate concessions for residential properties.
- Eligible households can receive a subsidy of HK$1,000 for their electricity bill (to benefit some 2.08 million residential households).
- Examination fees covered by the government for school candidates sitting for the 2023 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination.
Increasing anti‑epidemic efforts:
- Additional funding of HK$22 billion for the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) to strengthen testing work, procure rapid antigen test kits and relevant services.
- Additional funding of HK$6 billion for the Department of Health to procure more vaccines as booster doses for the general public.
- Additional funding amounting to HKD$7 billion in total for relevant departments to procure anti‑epidemic items and services, implement anti‑epidemic measures, etc.
- A further injection of HK$12 billion into the AEF (Anti-Epidemic Fund) for the construction of various anti-epidemic related facilities.
Further information on the 2022 Hong Kong budget will be provided as they are made available in the coming days. Meanwhile, for any enquiries on how the budget may affect your business, please feel free to reach out to our team of experts.
For full details on the budget, please visit the Hong Kong Budget website.
Are you planning to incorporate or register a company in Hong Kong? Read more about Hong Kong company incorporation.
