The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.7) Bill 2018 was gazetted by the government on 2 November 2018. By amending the Inland Revenue Ordinance, the Bill seeks to:
- align the tax treatment of financial instruments with their accounting treatment;
- allow the deduction of interest expenses payable to overseas export credit agencies;
- refine the provisions that implement the arrangement for automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (AEOI);
- avoid potential double non-taxation of income of visiting teachers and researchers arising from the introduction of tax exemption for teachers and researchers in tax agreements signed by Hong Kong; and
- revise the definition of the sibling relationship to cover some cases related to adopted persons in determining the eligibility for the dependent brother or dependent sister allowance.
The Amendment Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on 14 November 2018.