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Publications and Press Releases :
Press Release
: News Archives
Revenue (Allowances for Tax) Bill 2005 to be
gazetted on Friday
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The Revenue (Allowances for Tax) Bill 2005, which
seeks to implement some of the tax relief measures announced in
the 2005-06 Budget, will be gazetted this Friday (April 22).
Under the Bill, the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap 112) will be amended
to effect two proposals relating to allowances under salaries tax
and personal assessment.
The first proposal, to increase the child allowance from $30,000
to $40,000, seeks to alleviate the rather heavy burden of taxpayers
in raising children. Around 300,000 taxpayers will benefit from
this proposal.
The second proposal is to introduce a new basic allowance and an
additional allowance for taxpayers maintaining parents/grandparents
aged between 55 and 59.
"Because of economic restructuring and the fact that the unemployment
rate for older workers is still relatively high, the younger generation
will inevitably have to undertake a heavier responsibility in caring
for their parents. This responsibility will be less in respect of
those parents who are under 60, as they have a better chance of
finding a full-time or part-time job. As a relief measure, we propose
to introduce two new allowances for taxpayers taking care of dependent
parents or grandparents aged between 55 and 59. They will be granted
a basic allowance of $15,000 a year, with an additional allowance
of the same amount if their parents or grandparents are residing
with them. It is estimated that around 100,000 taxpayers will benefit
from this measure," a Government spokesman said.
It is estimated that the proposal to increase the child allowance
will cost the Government $620 million in tax revenue in a full year.
The proposal to introduce a new basic and additional allowance for
taxpayers maintaining parents/grandparents aged between 55 and 59
is estimated to cost $450 million in a full year.
The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on April
27, 2005.
Ends/Tuesday, April 19, 2005
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