PRESS RELEASE

(Source : Information Services Department)

LCQ14: Revenues from the Special Stamp Duty and the Buyer's Stamp Duty

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     Following is a question by the Hon Cyd Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 30):

Question:

    Regarding the revenues from the Special Stamp Duty (SSD) and the Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)  of the number of residential property transactions subject to the payment of SSD as well as the total value of the properties concerned and the total amount of duty involved, in each month since the implementation of SSD in November 2010, together with a breakdown by District Council (DC) district where the relevant properties are located; and

(2)  of the number of residential property transactions subject to the payment of BSD as well as the total value of the properties concerned and the total amount of duty involved, in each month since the implementation of BSD in October 2012, together with a breakdown by DC district where the relevant properties are located?

Reply:

President,

    The information requested in the Hon Cyd Ho's question is as follows:

Special Stamp Duty (SSD)

    According to the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2011, which introduced the SSD and was gazetted on June 30, 2011, if a residential property was acquired on or after November 20, 2010 and had subsequently been resold within 24 months, the relevant transaction would be subject to the SSD.  The rates of the SSD ranged from 5% to 15% of the value of the transaction, depending on the holding period of the residential property concerned.  The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had started collecting the SSD from all residential property resale cases that were subject to the SSD since July 2011 after the gazettal of the Amendment Ordinance, which include all relevant transactions that took place between November 20, 2010 and the gazettal of the Amendment Ordinance.

    In view of the exuberant residential property market, the Government announced the introduction of a new round of demand-side management measures on October 26, 2012, which included the enhancement to the SSD, in order to further combat short-term speculative activities and to ensure the healthy and stable development of the residential property market.  Under the enhanced SSD regime, the SSD rates have been increased to 10% to 20% of the value of the transaction, and the relevant holding period has also been extended to 36 months.  The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 implementing the enhanced SSD was gazetted on February 28, 2014.  Since March 2014, the IRD has collected the SSD from residential property transactions that are subject to the enhanced SSD in accordance with the enhanced regime, which include all relevant transactions that took place between October 27, 2012 and the gazettal of the Amendment Ordinance.

    The monthly breakdown of residential property transactions involving SSD, as well as the duty value involved since the collection of the SSD following the enactment of the above-mentioned amendment ordinances are shown in table 1.

Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD)

    In the new round of demand-side management measures announced on October 26, 2012, the Government also suggested imposing a BSD on residential property transactions if the purchasers or transferees concerned were not Hong Kong permanent residents acting on their own behalf.  The rate of BSD is set at 15% of the value of the relevant residential property transaction. The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 implementing the BSD was gazetted on February 28, 2014.  The IRD has started collecting the BSD from residential property transactions that are subject to the BSD since March 2014, including all relevant transactions that took place between October 27, 2012 and the gazettal of the Amendment Ordinance.

    IRD is reviewing all cases that may be subject to the BSD.  The monthly breakdown of residential property transactions that involve the BSD, as well as the duty value involved since the collection of the BSD in March 2014 are as follows:

Month                   No. of Case            Duty value ($million)
March 2014              1 827                             3 310

    IRD does not have breakdown of the above-mentioned SSD and BSD cases by their total amount of consideration or by District Council districts to which the relevant properties relate.

Ends/Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:32

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