The government’s financial support plan for workers, the self-employed and businesses will start to be disbursed on August 17, with details available on a new online system launched by the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) yesterday, according to a statement by the bureau.
The government announced the launch of a new round of financial support in mid-June, with the second 2022 budget amendment allowing the government to allocate 35.1 billion patacas from the Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) special reserves to provide tax breaks and exemptions to minimise the impact of the pandemic outbreak on people’s lives and the economy.
For employees: Exceptions Application Review
According to the plan, a one-off subsidy of 15,000 patacas is to be granted to eligible employees who earnt up to 600,000 patacas in 2020 and 2021, including those who were underemployed, laid-off, part-timers or dismissed during the epidemic.
The plan stipulates that if employers did not register their employees on or before January 15 for the employees who started working from 2020 to 2021, or did not declare the respective employee’s employment income for 2020 or 2021 on or before 17 June, the employee may prove that he or she had a genuine employment relationship and met the employment requirements during that period.
According to the plan, applications must be supported by bank transfer records or payroll receipts and other proof such as employment contracts, pay slips, attendance records or social security fund contribution records.
In addition, Macau residents who have become involuntarily unemployed between January 1 and July 30 this year, after verification by the DSF, will also receive the relevant cash assistance, upon application and proof of unemployment, according to the plan.
The plan noted that the above-mentioned applications should be submitted to the DSF on or before August 29.
Freelancers: at least 10,000 patacas
Freelancers who are eligible for cash assistance comprise two categories. The first one is for local self-employed persons who hold a valid licence for one of seven occupation categories are eligible for 10,000 patacas each.
The second category is for local freelancers who are registered with the DSF as Tax Group II taxpayers. If their business in 2021 was profitable or not but did not have a profit exceeding 240,000 patacas, an assistance payment of at least 15,000 patacas and at most 300,000 patacas per person will be made based on 10 percent of the average amount of their income tax liability declared for the years 2019 to 2021.
Business operators: 500,000 patacas at most
According to the plan, eligible business operators will be granted a minimum of 30,000 patacas and a maximum of 500,000 patacas per business, calculated on the basis of 10 percent of the sum of the average of the reported operating costs of the eligible business for the years 2019 to 2021 – if the amount of the business results declared for net profit tax in 2021 shows a net profit or not but the profit does not exceed 600,000 patacas.
The plan also stipulated that operators in the sectors such as gaming, telecommunications, finance and insurance, mass transit, which are covered by a franchise or concessionary system or subsidised by the government, together with some operators of some special sectors such as public interest corporations, educational institutions, and social service organisations regularly subsidised by the Social Welfare Bureau, are excluded from the scope of this assistance scheme.
For more information, please visit the DSF website on https://info.dsf.gov.mo for the details of the disbursement, where users can type their ID number to find out whether they are eligible for the assistance payment.
For more enquiries, please call 2833 6886.
