Gov’t responds to outbreak with cash handouts
A series of nine measures including cash handouts, tax refunds, and tax exemptions, among others, have been announced by the government in response to the current situation of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“In response to the sudden outbreak of the epidemic in Macau, the Special Administrative Region government swiftly launched the ‘2022 10 billion Anti-epidemic Assistance Measures’,” Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said yesterday during the Covid-19 situation press briefing.
The new round of economic stimulus covers a total of nine measures in five areas, including financial aid, employment support, tax reduction, exemption, subsidies, and internal consumption stimulus. The budgeted expenditure exceeds 10 billion patacas, Lei said.
Among the stimulus package is a new cash handout in the amount of 15,000 patacas, which will be handed to all resident taxpayers’ that have reported income subjected to tax in an amount between 6,000 patacas and 480,000 patacas over the cumulative period of two years (2020 and 2021).
Contrary to the general wealth partaking scheme that attributes the same amount to every Macau permanent or non-permanent resident, this measure aims to particularly compensate those that reported low income due to unemployment, salary reduction, or lay-off situations.
According to a further explanation from the director of the Financial Services Bureau (DSF), Stephen Iong, the measure will benefit around 80% of the resident workforce, including those who are currently unemployed but have worked and earned salaries during the two years, as well as workers that have faced temporary lay-off situations.
According to Iong, there are around 231,000 local workers, including those in liberal professions, who over the last two years, have faced a significant reduction in their income base due to pandemic-related causes.
Support is also extended to shop owners and other self-employed workers who fall under “Tax group 2.”
They can receive an amount between 15,000 patacas and 300,000 patacas if they have declared profits below 240,000 patacas in 2021.
Taxi drivers, touristic guides, fishermen, hawkers, and other independent licensed professionals can also receive a cash handout of 10,000 patacas.
Other measures include the exemption and refund of several licensing taxes, a special interest subsidy scheme for corporate bank loans; temporary subsidies for the taxi industry; and a citywide consumer carnival (post-pandemic) to increase internal consumption.
As Secretary Lei noted, the financial assistance will demand a new amendment to the 2022 budget that needs to be delivered, addressed, and approved by the Legislative Assembly before taking effect.
