Gov’t withdraws Tax Code bill

After almost a year of getting nowhere, the government has now decided to withdraw the Tax Code bill from the Legislative Assembly. English-language newspaper Business Daily quotes the Financial Services Bureau as saying that the decision to withdraw the Tax Code bill had been made only “after serious consideration.” However, no reason was given for the bill having remained in the assembly for almost a year. The new Tax Code would have introduced standards set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, brought together current laws and defined principles for the development of the tax system. The government had spent 10 years drafting this bill. According to the report, the government’s next step is to launch a “complete and detailed review” of Macau’s tax system.