The Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association requests to postpone the increase of stamp duty on luxury homes. Hong Kong government: There is currently no plan.

The new Hong Kong government "Budget" proposes to raise the stamp duty rate for luxury homes worth over 100 million Hong Kong dollars from 4.25% to 6.5%. The relevant measures have been in effect since February 26 this year, and it is expected to increase government revenue by about 1 billion Hong Kong dollars annually. The Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association recently submitted their views, requesting the government to postpone the implementation date of the stamp duty increase to July 1. They hope that by then, the situation in the Middle East will be more stable and that transactions involving a single residential unit valued at less than 100 million Hong Kong dollars will not be considered part of a series of transactions, even if there are other transactions involving other units in the same building, or other buyers acting in conjunction, in order to avoid unintended negative impacts on urban redevelopment. The Hong Kong Treasury Bureau, on the other hand, stated that it has observed that the residential property market has been operating smoothly in March this year, with no apparent impact from the recent situation in the Middle East. Additionally, the Bureau also needs to ensure policy clarity to property buyers. Therefore, there are currently no plans to postpone the implementation date of the stamp duty rate increase.