PRESS RELEASE

Inland Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance 2011 gazetted today

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The Inland Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance 2011 (the Amendment Ordinance) was gazetted and commenced operation today (March 25).

The Amendment Ordinance mainly seeks to enhance the qualifying debt instrument (QDI) scheme through the following measures:

* extending the 50% concessionary rate of profits tax to QDIs with a tenor of less than three years; and

* replacing the "issued to the public" criterion with a new requirement specifying that for a debt instrument to be eligible for the QDI scheme, it has to be issued in Hong Kong, at issuance, to 10 or more persons; or if fewer than 10 persons, none of whom is an associate of the issuer of the debt instrument.

A spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said, "Through the implementation of the enhancement measures in the Amendment Ordinance, we hope to stimulate new market demand for the issuance of debt securities with a view to making the local debt market more active, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of Hong Kong as an international financial centre."

The tax information and frequently asked questions about the QDI scheme have been uploaded onto the homepage of the Inland Revenue Department
(www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/bus_pft.htm#a08).

Ends/Friday, March 25, 2011
Issued at HKT 10:32

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