Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (pictured) presented a budget proposal for 2025 during a Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session yesterday, suggesting the continuation of a number of tax relief measures and subsidies for disadvantaged groups, as well as the Wealth Partaking Scheme and the health voucher scheme, according to the Government Information Bureau (GCS).
Next year’s suggested Wealth Partaking Scheme will continue to be distributed in the same amounts as this year’s scheme: MOP 10,000 for each permanent resident and MOP 6,000 for each non-permanent resident.
The outgoing chief executive said that the recommendations regarding next year’s budget proposal were formed after being discussed with and agreed upon by the elected sixth-term chief executive, Sam Hou Fai.
Ho pointed out that the actual policy address for 2025 would be presented by the sixth-term Government, which will officially take office on 20 December.
The incumbent Macau Government made its budget recommendation in line with the SAR’s Basic Law and the Budget Framework Law, with a view of ensuring the city’s stability and the normal operation of public departments, according to GCS.
The 2025 budget proposal estimated Macau’s gaming revenue next year to be some MOP 240 billion and primarily includes administrative expenses necessary for the normal operation of public departments, expenditure that the government has committed to and must pay next year, appropriations for projects scheduled for the first quarter next year, as well as measures for the continuation of tax reductions and fee waivers implemented in recent years.
In the proposal, the government suggested continuing with the city’s existing tax-reduction and tax-exemption measures, and that the government would continue implementing a 30-per cent deduction to the personal income tax payable, with the basic annual allowance set at MOP 144,000.
The personal income tax allowance for employees over 65 years and for eligible employees with disabilities would be set at MOP 198,000.
In addition, the government would continue the 60-per cent rebate of personal income tax payable by each Macau resident, subject to a ceiling of MOP 14,000. Furthermore, under the proposal, personal income tax rebates related to the fiscal year 2023 would be disbursed in 2025.
Among other measures recommended in the budget proposal is the initiative of injecting a 10,000-pataca initial allowance from the government into the personal Social Security Fund account of every eligible Macau permanent resident, as well as an additional 7,000-pataca into the personal Social Security Fund account of every eligible Macau permanent resident.
Meanwhile, Ho also presented to the AL yesterday the work review of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government for the fiscal year 2024, pointing out that the city has achieved progress on various fronts and maintained overall stability during the period.
Source and Photo: GCS
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