Feb 24: HK 2021-22 Budget @ 11AM HKT

[shri]

Expected to be delivered today at 11AM.


English Video

https://youtu.be/xmWoouctnjs


Highlights

• 2020: Economy shrunk 6.1% largest annual decline in record and 2 years in a row decline. Private consumption dropped 10.1 per cent for the year, investment expenditure fell by 11.5 per cent. Exports of services registered a record decline of 36.8 per cent
  
  
• Unemployment: Rate of the retail, accommodation and food services sectors combined rose to 11.3 per cent.
  
  
• 2021: Forecast that our economy will grow by 3.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent in real terms this year.
  
  
  

Some numbers and measures

• Business Taxes: Reducing profits tax for the year of assessment 2020/21 by 100 per cent, subject to a ceiling of $10,000.
  
  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.
  
  Waiving the business registration fees for 2021‑22
  
  
• Personal Tax Cut: 100% reduction, upto 10K.
  
  
• Rates for domestic property: 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
  
  
• Utilities: Residential electricity account a subsidy of $1,000
  
  
• Subsidies for Buildings: 1B in subsidies to carry out work on old buildings with low rateable values.
  
  
• Unemployment Loan: (not really applicable here I assume) - 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
  
  
• $5000 Vouchers - Permanent residents and "new arrivals". Expected to benefit 7.2M residents. Details to follow.
  
  

  I will issue electronic consumption vouchers in instalments with a total value of $5,000 to each eligible Hong Kong permanent resident and new arrival aged 18 or above, so as to encourage and boost local consumption.

• Local Tourism Spending: $169 million will be used to continue to take forward local cultural, heritage and creative tourism projects, such as the Yim Tin Tsai Arts Festival and the City in Time
  
  
• Showcasing to the world the image of Hong Kong as a highly open international city in the GBA from various perspectives such as finance, I&T, culture and creativity and tourism, as well as our unique advantages under "One Country, Two Systems". We hope to attract enterprises, investors and talent to Hong Kong. InvestHK and our overseas offices will step up their efforts in this area.
  
  
• North / Southbound Trading (stocks) - Doubled over the year before.
  
  
• Bonds: Green bonds - Double the borrowing ceiling of the Programme to $200 billion to allow for further issuance of green bonds totalling $175.5 billion within the next five years, Retail investors to be included. North and South bound bond trading - this year. Silver (age lowered to 60) and iBonds to be issued this year.
  
  
• Reits - Listings will be subsidised for fees paid to local professionals. The subsidy will cover 70 per cent of the expenses paid to local professional service providers for the listing of REITs, subject to a cap of $8 million per REIT.
  
  
• Global STEM Professorship Scheme in the first half of this year to support universities in attracting world-renowned I&T scholars and their teams to Hong Kong to participate in STEM teaching and research.
  
  
  
• Fiber to Villages: The subsidy scheme for expanding fibre-based network to villages in remote areas will be completed in phases from this year onwards.
  
  
  
• Startups: Inject $4,750 million per year to the ITF two years in a row to sustain its 17 funding schemes as well as the work of over 50 R&D laboratories in the next three years
  
  
  
• Arts and Culture: $200 million to the arts and culture sector under the AEF, benefitting over 930 arts groups and over 6 800 arts practitioners. The Home Affairs Bureau has established an inter-bureau task force with $100 million reserved to promote the integration of arts and technology, and support arts groups and I&T savvy.
  
  
• EV Subsidy: The "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme provides a higher first registration tax (FRT) concession for owners who buy a new e- PC and scrap their eligible old PC, subject to a cap of $250,000. Since its launch, 90 per cent of the owners of first registered e-PCs have benefited from the Scheme. The FRT concession for general e-PCs is $97,500.
  
  Not sure what this means:
  
  

  The maximum FRT concession for e-PCs under the "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme will be raised correspondingly to $287,500, while the FRT concession cap for general e-PCs will remain unchanged.

Have to be somewhere .. live stream will continue and will update as and when I can with relevant summaries...

[shri]

Too early in the day to start a drinking game, but what are the bets on the projected deficit for the coming year?

Also want to see what they do with EV taxes.

I'm in for around $350B HKD...

[Cheeky Kiwi]

$300B HKD

[vmlinuz]

SCMP reporting $5000 'shopping vouchers' for PR, but only those who are actually resident...

[hannah01]

SCMP reporting $5000 'shopping vouchers' for PR, but only those who are actually resident...

Eeeek ....can't they just handout cash instead of coupons or vouchers? Just sayin'.

[vmlinuz]

Eeeek ....can't they just handout cash instead of coupons or vouchers? Just sayin'.

They're trying to directly stimulate local consumption, not saving or exporting cash....

[TheBrit]

They're trying to directly stimulate local consumption, not saving or exporting cash....

Or they are ensuring everything goes into tycoon pockets.

[mrgoodkat]

SCMP reporting $5000 'shopping vouchers' for PR, but only those who are actually resident...

Only valid and Wellcome, PNS and other local tycoon owned businesses

[etienne43]

Only valid and Wellcome, PNS and other local tycoon owned businesses

Of course...the ones which already received huge money from the government even if they were not affected at all by the pandemic.....and when i say not affected maybe i should say...the ones which made bigger benefits during the pandemics.. My wife has been working for watson group (Park&shops and others affiliated supermarkets) and 2 times they got some bonus as the monthly sales were much more higher than expected...

[bdw]

Since I am not in HK I will sell my $5000 voucher to anyone who wants it for $4900