HK deputy hopes SMEs will benefit from tax cuts

A Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC) called for more efforts to bring small and mediumsized enterprise (SMEs) into line with the country’s industry-wide measures to alleviate tax burdens and reduce costs.

David Wong Yau-kar, a Hong Kong NPC member and chairman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), told an open-door meeting in Beijing of the Hong Kong delegation to the NPC that SMEs should not be passed over when it comes to benefiting from the State Council’s fiscal support.

In the latest Government Work Report delivered to the NPC gathering in Beijing on Sunday, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to introduce a more proactive fiscal policy to further slash tax burdens on businesses over the year by nearly 350 billion yuan ($50.74 billion) and to further reduce business-related fees by almost 200 billion yuan.

Such a move highlights the central government’s determination to boost business growth and rejuvenate the economy, but it should look to help market entities in a more balanced way, Wong said.

According to the Government Work Report, micro-enterprises with low profits will enjoy halved corporate income tax, with the upper limit of taxable annual income lifted from 300,000 to 500,000 yuan. For small and mediumsized high-tech enterprises, the proportion of research and development expenses which are tax deductible is to be raised from 50 percent to 75 percent.