Relieve People's Hardship
33. I will also introduce the following one-off measures to alleviate the impact of the economic downturn on the public:
| (a) | reducing salaries tax and tax under personal assessment 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 1.87 million taxpayers and reduce government revenue by $11.4 billion; |
| (b) | providing rates concession for domestic properties for four quarters of 2021-22, subject to a ceiling of $1,500 per quarter in the first two quarters and a ceiling of $1,000 per quarter in the remaining two quarters for each rateable property. This proposal is estimated to involve 2.95 million domestic properties and reduce government revenue by $11.6 billion; |
| (c) | granting each residential electricity account a subsidy of $1,000. This measure will involve an expenditure of about $2.8 billion and benefit over 2.7 million eligible residential households; |
| (d) | providing an allowance to eligible social security recipients, equal to one half of a month of the standard rate Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) payments, Old Age Allowance, Old Age Living Allowance or Disability Allowance. This will involve additional expenditure of $2,382 million. Similar arrangements will apply to recipients of the Working Family Allowance and Individual-based Work Incentive Transport Subsidy, involving additional expenditure of $121 million; and |
| (e) | paying the examination fees for school candidates sitting for the 2022 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, incurring $150 million. |
34. This prolonged economic downturn has plunged some people into financial difficulties. In view of this, many people have demanded temporary unemployment assistance. The Government has reiterated the policy considerations it has taken into account for not accepting the proposal, and instead provided a time‑limited special scheme under the CSSA Scheme to help the unemployed.
35. Considering that many grassroots have been suffering from underemployment amid the epidemic, the Government proposes to relax the working hour requirements under the Working Family Allowance Scheme. Among them, the current basic working hour requirement of not fewer than 144 hours per month for non-single parent households will be substantially lowered by half for one year. The measure will be implemented in June at the earliest subject to FC approval.
36. In order to provide an extra financing option for the unemployed, I suggest setting up a Special 100% Loan Guarantee for Individuals Scheme as a supplementary measure. The Government will offer a guarantee for loans provided under the scheme. The maximum loan amount per applicant is set at six times of his/her average monthly income during employment, subject to a ceiling of $80,000. There will be a principal moratorium for the first 12 months. Afterwards, the principal and interest can be repaid over a period of up to five years with an interest rate fixed at one per cent per annum. Applicants who have repaid loans in full as scheduled will be offered full reimbursement for the interest paid. Freelancers who provide proof of loss of income may also apply for the loan. The Government will provide a total guarantee commitment of $15 billion. The application period will last for six months. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) will, in collaboration with the HKMCIL, announce the details in due course.
37. Amid the epidemic, the public are increasingly concerned about environmental hygiene issues such as misconnection and dilapidation of the drainage pipes of buildings. I will earmark $1 billion to provide subsidies for owners of more than 3 000 old buildings with relatively low rateable values to carry out drainage repair or enhancement works. For buildings with owners having difficulties in organising the works by themselves, such as "three-nil" buildings, the Buildings Department will exercise its power under the Buildings Ordinance to carry out the works in default of their owners in an orderly manner based on the risk profile. The owners concerned may also benefit from the subsidy scheme.
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