Support Enterprises
27. To support enterprises, I will implement the following measures involving a total of about $9.5 billion:
| (a) | reducing profits tax for the year of assessment 2020/21 by 100 per cent, subject to a ceiling of $10,000. The reduction will be reflected in the final tax payable for the year of assessment 2020/21. This will benefit 128 000 businesses and reduce government revenue by $1,050 million; |
| (b) | providing rates concession for non‑domestic properties for four quarters of 2021‑22, subject to a ceiling of $5,000 per quarter in the first two quarters and a ceiling of $2,000 per quarter in the remaining two quarters for each rateable property. This proposal is estimated to involve 420 000 non‑domestic properties and reduce government revenue by $3.4 billion; |
| (c) | waiving the business registration fees for 2021‑22. This will benefit 1.5 million business operators and reduce government revenue by $3 billion; |
| (d) | continuing to waive 75 per cent of water and sewage charges payable by non‑domestic households for eight months starting from April 2021, subject to a monthly ceiling of $20,000 and $12,500 respectively per household. This will benefit 250 000 non‑domestic households and reduce government revenue by $680 million; and |
| (e) | continuing to grant the 75 per cent rental or fee concession currently applicable to eligible tenants of government properties and eligible short-term tenancies and waivers under the Lands Department for six months starting from April 2021. During the period, tenants who have to close their properties at the request of the Government will continue to receive full rental waiver for the duration of the closure. This will reduce government revenue by $1.4 billion. |
28. The Government has introduced a number of enhancements to the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme, including the rollout of the 90% Guarantee Product and the one‑year Special 100% Guarantee Product to provide enterprises with low‑interest loans or interest subsidies, as well as principal moratorium during which only interest payments have to be made, thus giving them some breathing space for recovery. As at the end of January, a total of $42.7 billion in loans was approved under the 100% Guarantee Product, benefiting over 20 000 enterprises, involving 260 000 employees. As the epidemic has been lingering on for over one year, in order to continue to relieve the cash flow pressure of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), I will extend the application period of the Special 100% Guarantee Product to the end of this year; further increase the maximum loan amount per enterprise from the total amount of employee wages and rents for 12 months to that for 18 months and raise the loan ceiling from $5 million to $6 million; extend the maximum repayment period from five years to eight years; and extend the maximum duration of principal moratorium from 12 months to 18 months. The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Insurance Limited (HKMCIL) will announce the details later.
29. Further to the launching of the Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme together with the banking sector in response to the epidemic in May last year, the HKMA announced in November that the scheme would be extended for six months to April 2021 having regard to the ongoing impact of the epidemic on economic activities. Some 120 000 eligible corporate customers are covered by the scheme. Under this scheme and other relief initiatives offered by banks, about 59 000 cases have been approved by banks to support enterprises as at end-January 2021, involving an amount of about $750 billion.
| Previous Page | Content | Next Page |
