Preferential tax rates implemented for talents and Macao people in Hengqin

Domestic and overseas talents in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will not have to pay tax on what exceeds 15 percent of personal income, the Guangdong Provincial Taxation Bureau announced March 9.

The scope of new preferential individual income tax policies also covers comprehensive income, operating profits, subsidies, and other labor income for eligible taxpayers.

Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley [File photo by Yuan Tianxiao]

The overall development plan for the Cooperation Zone, which was released in early September 2021, states that measures will be rolled out to attract international top-notch, high-caliber talents, and talents in short supply. In response, a list of such talents qualified for the policies and the measures for their management will be jointly formulated by Guangdong and Macao prior to approval by the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Meanwhile, Macao residents working in the zone would have exempted the portion of their personal income tax burden exceeding Macao standards. This is to facilitate construction of Hengqin into a new home for Macao people to live and work, and lays a foundation for a new system of high-level integration and opening-up with Macao.

Ten thousand domestic and overseas talents working and living in the cooperation zone will benefit from the new policies. More high-end professionals with global visions will be solicited to settle in Hengqin, said a spokesperson at the Guangdong Provincial Taxation Bureau.