Wealth Partaking Scheme kicks off next month

The annual Wealth Partaking Scheme will commence next month, with each permanent resident and non-permanent resident set to receive MOP10,000 and MOP6,000, respectively.

This year, the subsidy scheme will involve approximately 697,000 permanent residents and 42,000 non-permanent residents, with the total expenditure involved approximately MOP7,230 million, the government announced.

The government explained that the economic recovery of Macau is uncertain due to the turnaround of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that it “will continue to implement the tax relief measures of the previous year and extend the other measures related to education, healthcare, social security and cash benefits.”

The cash handout will operate under the same rules as last year with two main forms of beneficiaries, namely bank transfer and crossed cheque, which should be sent by post to eligible residents.

These eligible residents include those who receive the senior citizens allowance, disability allowance and economic assistance, teaching staff who receive a direct subsidy or professional development allowance, and higher education students receiving scholarships, among others.

Those who have opted for a bank transfer to receive a tax refund or other payments from the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) will have the cash contribution directly transferred to their account.

For other eligible residents, the financial assistance will be paid within five weeks by postal cheque in chronological order of birth.

The first cash handout was distributed in 2008. A total of MOP5,000 and MOP3,000 were distributed to each permanent and non-permanent resident, respectively. Pre-pandemic, the cash handout was distributed every summer, beginning in June. 

The Social Welfare Bureau is also responsible for the coordination of the allocation process, which is carried out jointly with the Identification Services Bureau, the Social Welfare Institute, the Education and Youth Development Bureau, the Institute for Municipal Affairs and other departments.