Applications for tax payment delays soar
About one-tenth of taxpayers have applied to defer payments, a senior official said yesterday.
Assistant Commissioner for Inland Revenue Luk Nai-man said applications to delay payment had soared from 25,000 last year to 135,000 this year amid the economic downturn.
The applications involve a total of $2.4 billion.
Of those applying for deferment, about 70,000 taxpayers sought a delay because of the new tax-relief scheme for home owners.
A spokesman for the Inland Revenue Department said they wanted more time to find out how much money they could save.
Under the scheme, home owners will benefit from a tax allowance of up to $100,000 a year to offset high mortgage interest payments.
The department said a home owner on average received a $60,000 tax allowance.
The concession will help more than 500,000 people struggling to pay for at least 380,000 properties.
About 9,400 people had lost their jobs and were unable to pay tax.
Mr Luk said that the number of unemployed represented only a small proportion of the total 1.3 million taxpayers.
He declined to predict any possible trend of tax deferral applications and unemployment figures in the coming year.
Applications are normally made to delay payment for one year.
