Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury James Lau welcomed the Legislative Council’s passage of the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2018 today.

The bill enables the Inland Revenue Department to implement tax policy proposals from the 2018-19 Budget.

Proposals include widening the marginal salary tax bands from $45,000 to $50,000, increasing the child allowance from $100,000 to $120,000 and introducing a $75,000 personal disability allowance.

The Budget also proposed raising the dependent parent/grandparent allowance from $23,000 to $25,000 for supporting dependents aged between 55 and 59, and raising the allowance from $46,000 to $50,000 for those aged 60 or above.

The new ordinance also gives effect to the one-off concessionary tax measures proposed in the Budget.

They include the reduction of salaries tax, tax under personal assessment and profits tax for the year of assessment 2017-18 by 75%, subject to a ceiling of $30,000 per case.

Mr Lau said: “We believe the concessionary tax measures can relieve the tax burden of taxpayers, allowing them to share the fruits of our economic success.”