President, I speak in support of the passage of the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2024 (“the Bill”). The Bill seeks to implement the proposal put forth in the Budget this year by the Financial Secretary to completely abolish the Special Stamp Duty (“SSD”), the Buyer’s Stamp Duty (“BSD”) and the New Residential Stamp Duty (“NRSD”) for residential properties. 

Since 2010, the Government has heavy-handedly introduced several rounds of “harsh measures” for the property market to prevent it from further heating up. These measures include the introduction of NRSD, SSD and BSD. Regarding these “harsh measures” for the property market, the Liberal Party has all along considered them to be at odds with the concept of market economy in Hong Kong. We have consistently demanded that the Government should seriously assess the impact of this type of tax and conduct regular reviews to decide whether this extraordinary measure should be maintained. 

Over the past decade, the Liberal Party has consistently opposed the Government’s continued addition of “harsh measures” to the property market and requested the Government to promptly abolish these “harsh measures” because they are not conducive to curbing the property prices in Hong Kong. Instead, they only hinder people with genuine housing needs from buying their own homes, thus exacerbating the imbalance of the property market. 

For some time in the past, the Liberal Party and the real estate sector have been calling on the Government to withdraw the “harsh measures”.  In the 2023 Policy Address, the Government has proposed to reduce the “harsh measures”. The applicable period of SSD is shortened from three years to two years; the rates of BSD and NRSD are lowered from 15% to 7.5%; and a stamp duty suspension arrangement is introduced for incoming talents acquiring property. 

In view of the current economic environment and the property market situation, the Government is finally willing to completely withdraw the “harsh measures”. I believe that the withdrawal, together with the supporting measures, will have a positive impact on property transactions and encourage prospective home buyers to acquire their homes. This will bring the property market back to a healthy track, thereby bringing business to real estate agents. When these agents manage to earn commissions, they will be willing to spend money, meaning that they will dine out more at restaurants and make more purchases at shops. This knock-on or ripple effect does exist. When certain industries experience a revival, it will create a ripple effect that gradually boosts confidence and revitalizes other industries. This is the natural law of the market, which is the best way to rebuild people’s confidence in the market and revitalize the economy of Hong Kong.

During our meeting with the Financial Secretary, we also mentioned that the complete withdrawal of the “harsh measures” would not lead to an immediate surge in property prices. We pointed out that the withdrawal of the “harsh measures” would buoy up property transactions. The transactions observed in the past month have proved that the reality is closely aligned with our projection. 

With these remarks, President, the Liberal Party supports the Bill.