Power aid:
The Government has proposed a series of relief measures to ease inflation pressure on people's livelihood, such as giving a $1,800 subsidy to each residential electricity account.
Financial Secretary
The Financial Secretary's primary responsibility is to assist the Chief Executive in overseeing policy formulation and implementation in financial, monetary, economic, trade and employment matters.
Housing Society
The Hong Kong Housing Society endeavours to provide affordable housing and related services, particularly for those in the gap between the private market and the government.
Housing Authority
The Hong Kong Housing Authority takes charge of developing and implementing a public housing programme, to achieve the Government's objective of meeting the housing needs of people who cannot afford private rental housing. Approximately 30% of the Hong Kong population lives in public rental housing units.
Relief plans to fight inflation
February 23, 2011
Waived rates, electricity subsidies and increased welfare allowances are some of the relief measures announced in the 2011-12 Budget today to help ease the inflation burden on the public.
Financial Secretary John Tsang announced rates will be waived, subject to a ceiling of $1,500 per quarter for each rateable property, this financial year, benefiting 82% of property owners and costing the Government $9.9 billion.
Each residential electricity account will be granted a subsidy of $1,800, costing the Government about $4.7 billion.
Other measures
The Government will pay two months’ rent for public housing tenants, and two months’ base rent for tenants required to pay extra to the Housing Authority.
For non-elderly tenants of the Housing Society’s Group B estates, the Government will pay two-thirds of their rent for two months, costing $1.9 billion.
An extra one-month payment of the standard rate of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance will be made to recipients. The Government will also give one extra month's pay to Old Age Allowance and Disability Allowance recipients, also costing $1.9 billion.
Tax breaks
Mr Tsang proposed raising the tax allowance for maintaining dependent parents and grandparents by 20%.
The allowance for maintaining a dependent parent or grandparent aged 60 or above will rise from $30,000 to $36,000. The additional allowance for a taxpayer residing with a parent or grandparent will rise from $30,000 to $36,000.
The allowance for maintaining a dependent parent or grandparent aged 55 to 59 will rise from $15,000 to $18,000. The same applies to the additional allowance for taxpayers residing with these dependents.
For taxpayers whose parents or grandparents are admitted to a residential care home, the deduction ceiling for elderly residential care expenses will be raised from $60,000 to $72,000.
These will benefit 510,000 taxpayers and cost the Government $570 million a year.
Both the child allowance and the additional one-off child allowance in the year of birth will rise 20% from $50,000 to $60,000 for each child, benefiting 300,000 taxpayers and costing the Government $650 million a year.
