Hong Kong tax revenue to fall further on fewer stamp duty collections for property
Officials attribute drop to waiver of business registration fees but stay mum on outlook of property market where speculation has been rampant
The Inland Revenue Department on Tuesday announced that overall tax revenue collected in the 2016-17 financial year was HK$290.2 billion, down about HK$1.1 billion or 0.4 per cent from the previous fiscal year.
The revenue drop for a second consecutive year was attributed mostly to a waiver of business registration fees. In 2015-16, the taxman collected HK$291.3 billion – a 4 per cent drop.
Of the total collected, nearly half, or HK$139.2 billion, was from profits tax, while salaries tax accounted for some HK$59.1 billion. With the expiry of the one-year waiver of business registration fees, the department expected to collect some HK$2.6 billion from this source in 2017-18, from only about HK$228 million in 2016-17.
Commissioner of Inland Revenue Wong Kuen-fai estimated property stamp duty would contract by 22 per cent to HK$29.2 billion in 2017-18.
Wong declined to speculate on the outlook of the property market, only saying the department’s estimates were based on “a basket of factors”, including the market trend and volume of transactions affected by government cooling measures.
