Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng said yesterday the government was proposing a special tax rebate for those hiring disabled residents, with the aim of encouraging the employment of people with disabilities.
Addressing a press conference at Government Headquarters, Leong said that the council, the government’s top advisory body, had completed its discussion of a government-drafted bill on tax benefits for those employing disabled people.
According to the bill, employers are eligible for a reduced tax bill for each disabled resident they employ as long as the employees hold a Disability Assessment Registration Card issued by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS).
The bill proposes that the employer must give the disabled resident at least 128 hours of work a month for the employer to benefit from the tax deduction, according to Leong.
Leong pointed out that all tax-related amendments need to be passed by the legislature. All government-drafted bills must be discussed by the Executive Council before their submission to the Legislative Assembly (AL) for debate and vote.
The bill states that the specific tax reduction that the employer can enjoy for each disabled employee will be determined by an order to be issued by the chief executive after the bill has been passed by the legislature, according to Leong.
Leong said the government was proposing that employers can enjoy a tax deduction of 5,000 patacas a year for each disabled resident they employ.
According to the bill, the tax will be deducted from the net profit tax that the company is liable to pay.
Concerning self-employed people who employ disabled residents, the tax will be deducted from the income tax that they are liable to pay, according to the bill.
The bill proposes that the tax rebate for the employment of disabled residents would be retroactive to last year.
Leong said that there are currently about 12,000 holders of the Disability Assessment Registration Card.
According to the website of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), a disabled resident needs to be assessed before they can get the Disability Assessment Registration Card. Under the system, there are six kinds of impairment, namely visual, audio, verbal, physical, intellectual and mental. There are four levels for the six kinds of impairment, namely slight, moderate, severe and profound.
Leong also said that as of July, 78 companies and organisations in Macau employed 325 disabled residents.
Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng addresses yesterday’s press conference about the tax rebate scheme at Government Headquarters. Photo: Tony Wong
