Tax professionals urge Hong Kong to waive property stamp duty

They also call for tax deductions for companies hiring young people.

South China Morning Post reported that a group of local tax professionals urged the Hong Kong government to waive the property stamp duty for first-time home buyers and offer tax deductions for companies hiring young people, given the sufficient fiscal reserves in the public purse.

In predicting the fiscal surplus would be between HK$70 billion and HK$80 billion in the current financial year, the Taxation Institute – representing more than 2,700 tax professionals – also suggested the city’s tax base be broadened.

In a letter to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, the institute said the general public was still finding it difficult to buy their first home despite the government’s introduction of “anti-speculation measures such as [an] increase in ad valorem stamp duty, special stamp duty and buyer’s stamp duty” in recent years amid soaring property prices.

Read the full story from South China Morning Post here.