Law 7/2017, the “Non-Mandatory Central Provident Fund System” will enter into force on 1 January 2018, with the aim of strengthening the protection of the living of the Macao residents in their old age. In order to raise public awareness of the Law, the Social Security Fund (abbreviated to FSS in Macao) will carry out a series of publicity and education work.
The FSS will later organize a number of briefing sessions for members of the public, the industry, employer and employee organizations, introducing to them the contents of the Law and answering their enquiries. The FSS will also promote the Non-Mandatory Central Provident Fund through different channels such as the website of FSS, advertising on Chinese and Portuguese radio and TV in Macao, newspaper column, outdoor publicity banner, bus advertising media, TV advertisement played inside the building, social networking platform, organizing law promotion day event and quiz game.
Since 2010, the SAR Government has started to open “provident fund individual accounts” for eligible residents and inject startup funds into their individual accounts, and after considering the fiscal surplus and other factors, has made allocation of funds for seven years in a row. With the implementation of Non-Mandatory Central Provident Fund next year, the original provident fund individual account will automatically become a government-managed sub-account and the allocation of government funding continues to be managed by the FSS. In addition, members of the public can make contributions toward the contribution scheme, or make flexible transfer of the balance of the government-managed sub-account and accumulate wealth through investment appreciation, thus creating conditions for a more comfortable retirement for their own future.
In order to encourage businesses to take social responsibility and enhance the retirement protection of their employees, the Law stipulates that the employers’ contributions toward the joint provident fund scheme can be regarded as their operating costs, and can be deducted from the income tax assessment or the taxable income of Group II of Salaries Taxpayers. In the first three years of the entry into force of the Law, the employers’ contributions can also enjoy additional tax concessions of twice as much.
For more information about the Law, please visit the website of the FSS at www.fss.gov.mo or call 2853 2850 for enquiries.