Hong Kong SAR

New legislation enacted

The following legislation was enacted in the past 12 months:

• The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Concessions and Two-tiered Standard Rates) Ordinance 2024 was gazetted on 31 May 2024 to give effect to (i) the 100% reduction of salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the year of assessment 2023/24, subject to a cap of HKD 3,000, (ii) raising the accommodation-related tax deduction ceilings (i.e. home loan interest or domestic rents) to support taxpayers residing with  a child born on or after 25 October 2023 from HKD 100,000 to HKD 120,000 starting from the year of assessment 2024/25, and (iii) implementing the two-tiered standard rates regime for salaries tax and tax under personal assessment starting from the year of assessment 2024/25.
• The Stamp Duty (Amendment) (Residential Properties) Ordinance 2024 (Ordinance) was gazetted on 9 February 2024 to give effect to the demand-side management measures for residential properties, which include (i) shortening the applicable period of the special stamp duty from 36 months to 24 months, (ii) reducing the respective rates of the buyer’s stamp duty and new residential stamp duty from 15% to 7.5%, and (iii) introducing a stamp duty suspension arrangement for incoming talents’ acquisition of residential properties.
• The Stamp Duty (Amendment) (Stock Transfers) Ordinance 2023 was gazetted on 16 November 2023 to give effect to the measure of reducing the rate of stamp duty on Hong Kong stock transfers to 0.1% from the prior rate of 0.13% of the transaction value payable by each of the buyer and the seller.