Lawmaker concerned about employees of offshore organizations

Lawmaker Lei Chan U has asked the local government for an update on the operation of offshore organizations in Macau, more specifically on the future of the employees working for these organizations.
Law no. 15/2018 “Repeal of the legal regime of the offshore services” was published in the Official Gazette on December 27, 2018. The law terminates the application of offshore licences and introduces a number of facilitations, which mainly include the continued entitlement of existing offshore institutions to the income tax exemption until December 31, 2020, with the exception of any profits arising from intellectual property, which are governed by specific regulations.
The law also encourages offshore institutions to continue their development in Macau by expanding or amending their businesses or changing their company names after their offshore licenses expire.
The law concerns a total of 355 offshore service organizations in Macau and affects 1,700 workers.
As of May 10, 2019, 43 of these organizations had elected to stay in Macau with amended businesses, 20 decided to end their businesses in Macau, and the rest had not made a decision.
Lei pointed out that the operation amendment related to these organizations raises concerns for the affected employees amid the Covid-19 outbreak. He wants the local government to explain these organizations’ current operations, and then asked if a large-scale layoff will happen within these entities.
The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute and the Labour Affairs Bureau are allegedly conducting quarterly surveys of these offshore organizations.
The local government amended the city’s offshore service law in response to the appeal of international organizations seeking to eliminate cross-border tax evasion and profit shifting, while proactively improving transparency in taxation across jurisdictions. JZ