Higher stamp duties approved by Legco 16 months after being imposed
Measures to cool market now official, but not before pan-democrats storm out ahead of vote after failing to get way on vetting future rises
Higher stamp duties to cool Hong Kong's property market finally became law yesterday amid a flurry of grandstanding in the Legislative Council.
The duties, which have been levied since October 2012, were approved after a marathon 35-hour debate over four days.
The vote removes uncertainty in the property market by giving effect to a 15 per cent levy on non-permanent residents and corporate buyers and an expansion of duties paid on quick resales of property.
A defeat could have meant the government paying back an estimated HK$4 billion it has collected in the past 16 months.
The measures have wide public support, but their approval was held up as lawmakers sought a legally binding say in future stamp duty decisions.
In the end, just after 4.30pm, 23 pan-democrats walked out of the Legco chamber in protest at not getting the law change they wanted. The bill authorising the duties then passed by a wide margin of 30 votes to six, with six abstentions.