Macau (MNA) – The chairman of the 1st standing committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL), Ho Ion Sang (pictured, top), claimed on Thursday that he expects the law proposal on the vehicle tax relief scheme to be approved before the end of this session of the legislature, which breaks on August 15.
Speaking to media after the committee’s meeting today, the legislator said there was consensus in reducing the number of Articles in the law to 12 from the initial 15 and simplifying the text, the initial version of which was “extensive and complex.”
Ho stated further that the committee now agrees that specific situations which lead to the change of vehicles owners – namely; divorce, marriage annulment, legal separation of assets, or death – should still allow people to reap the benefits within a one year span, contrary to the committee’s initial proposition.
The chairman also confirmed that one of the four requisites necessary for owners who had their vehicles damaged during Typhoon Hato to claim tax benefits was dropped by the committee – namely, the one requiring vehicle owners to acquire a vehicle of the same category as the damaged one.
The scope of the law only covers the owners of vehicles affected by Typhoon Hato who have reclaimed the benefit from August 23 to September 27, with the legislator confirming that the law will not be applied to assist residents suffering from material damage incurred through other catastrophes.
“This law proposal is linked to Typhoon Hato,” said Mr. Ho. “It will only have effect on facts which have already occurred. In the future, the government will have to adopt other measure in case of catastrophe.”
The current scheme covers a total of some 6,521 vehicles owners in Macau, of whom 3,240 are car owners and 3,281 are motorbike owners.
Overall, they correspond to damages amounting to MOP147 million (US$18.18 million), of which MOP137 million consists of damage incurred by cars.
The law will be enacted one day after its publication in the Official Gazette.
