Anger as top 10 landlords in Hong Kong enjoy rates rebate of HK$256 million

The top ratepayer alone is expected to receive a rates concession of HK$102.6 million from 15,645 rateable properties owned

Reading Time:3 minutes

The top 10 landlords own more than 40,000 property units. Photo: EPA

Published: 9:30pm, 9 Apr 2018Updated: 11:43pm, 9 Apr 2018

The top 10 landlords in Hong Kong – who own about 40,000 property units among them – will benefit from rates waivers of more than HK$256 million (US$32.8 million) this financial year, reigniting criticism that the government was once again favouring the rich.

The waiver of the indirect tax was among the relief measures announced in Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s latest budget, and the amount, which is double what they received the previous year, came under fresh attack as the government was accused of returning its record surplus to the wealthy.

In his February budget, Chan raised the waiver from a maximum of HK$1,000 per quarter in the last financial year to HK$2,500 per quarter for a full year.

Property tax won’t be levied on 1.43 million private flats in 2018-19

The latest figures, revealed by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau on Monday, suggested that the top ratepayer alone was expected to receive a rates concession of HK$102.6 million from the 15,645 rateable properties owned.

The next nine ratepayers were each expected to benefit by between HK$8.9 million and HK$29.3 million for the 1,258 to 5,038 properties they held.

In total, the top 10 landlords – owners of 40,136 units in the world’s most expensive housing market – would save HK$256.5 million.