Children who pay mortgages for their parents will not benefit from the new mortgage relief scheme unless they share ownership, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue said yesterday.
Wong Ho-sang was answering queries from some of the 500,000 taxpayers who will benefit from the tax deduction on mortgage interest payments.
Each can claim an annual maximum of $100,000 per mortgage to cover the cost of borrowing from banks for any five years.
Mr Wong said the scheme only applied to genuine home owners.
'For a cohabiting couple, I suggest they get married so they can claim the benefit by using a married couple's combined tax form, which says the benefits can be shifted between one and another,' Mr Wong said.
Since the benefit could only be given to a taxpayer who owned a flat, children or spouses who paid mortgages for their parents or partners would not be eligible.
