Mr. M has been employed as an engineer by A Ltd., a company incorporated in Hong Kong. During the year ended 31 March 2019, Mr. M had the following income and expenditure.

1. A monthly salary of $80,000.
2. A bonus of $20,000.
3. A meal allowance of $20,000, of which $18,000 was actually spent.
4. During the year Mr. M went on a vacation trip to Singapore and he received a holiday allowance from A Ltd. in the sum of $6,000.
5. A reimbursement of medical expenses in the sum of $35,000 from the medical scheme of an insurance company. A Ltd. paid an annual premium of $5,000 for each member of staff.
6. A Ltd. owned a car at a cost of $380,000. It was provided to Mr. M for his private use. The second-hand value of the car as of 31 March 2019 was $200,000. In addition, Mr. M was reimbursed $500 per month to cover for petrol cost.
7. During the period from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018, Mr. M lived in a leased flat at a monthly rental of $30,000, out of which $25,000 was reimbursed by A Ltd. With effect from 1 July 2018, Mr. M moved to a newly acquired property. The property was purchased by Mr M. The property cost was $6,000,000 and was financed by a low-interest mortgage loan financed by A Ltd. The commercial rate at that time was 5% per annum, and the rate offered by A Ltd., was 3% per annum. Mr. M paid mortgage interest of $88,000 to A Ltd. during the year ended 31 March 2019.
8. Since Mr. M moved into his own property, A Ltd., paid the electricity and water bills for him in the total amount of $30,000. A domestic helper at an annual wage of $40,000 was employed by A Ltd. and assigned a domestic servant to serve Mr. M’s family.
9. Mr. M paid the following membership fees: The Chartered Institute of Engineers: $2,100; The Hong Kong Recreation Club: $30,000.
10. On 1 June 2018, Mr. M was granted an option to buy the shares of A Ltd.’s parent company which was incorporated in Canada. The shares were listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange. The option enabled Mr. M to buy 10,000 shares at a price of $5 per share and carried an expiry date of 31 March 2019. On 1 September 2018, Mr. M exercised the option to buy 5,000 shares and sold the option to buy 2,000 shares to a colleague for $3,000. The 5,000 shares were then sold on 1 October 2018. The remaining option expired on 31 March 2019. Details of the share market value were: 1 April 2018: $22, 1 June 2018: $25, 1 September 2018: $29, 1 October 2018: $31, 31 March 2019: $26.
11. In order to equip himself with updated knowledge, Mr. M enrolled for an evening course on engineering with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and paid a tuition fee of $40,000. The enrolment was fully supported by A Ltd. which planned to expand the business in mainland China. However, A Ltd. did not approve any refund for the tuition fee finally.
12. Mr. M contributed 5% of his monthly salary to a MPF scheme.
13. Apart from the above, the following additional information is available:
14. Mr. M has two children The eldest child is nine, studying in Australia, the second child was born on 4 December 2018. Mrs. M was an employee and has her own income. Mr. M is to claim all child allowances if any.
15. Mr. M’s father, aged 63, is currently living in Australia but receives remittance from Mr. M regularly.
16. During the year, Mr. M made various charitable donations in an aggregate amount of $300,000 to the Community Chest in Hong Kong, a recognized charity.

Required: 

Calculate the Salaries Tax payable by Mr. M for the year of assessment 2018/2019 . Provide detailed explanations to the treatment of the following items: Reimbursement of medical expense, annual insurance premium paid by the employer, the use of the company car, the benefit of the low-interest rate, the benefit of using the domestic helper, membership fees to the Hong Kong Recreation Club, and the applicability of dependent parent allowance in Mr. M’s case.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The Salaries Tax payable by Mr M for the year of assessment 20182019 is 1200... View the full answer