May 6 deadline for applying for deferral of payment of rates and/or Government rent for Specified Commercial Premises
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The Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) today (May 2) reminded the registered rates and/or Government rent payers and their authorised agents to serve the applications on the RVD on or before May 6 for accounts without autopay instruction if they wish to apply for deferring the payment due date to August 12 for the April to June 2022 quarterly rates and/or Government rent (and that for January to March 2022 if still outstanding) in respect of Specified Commercial Premises (see Annex) subject to an existing tenancy. Any application received by the RVD after the deadline will not be processed. For rates and/or Government rent accounts with autopay instruction, the application already closed on April 20.
To enable expeditious processing of applications, eligible registered payers are strongly advised to apply online by submitting an electronic form (e-RVD 1070) using the Electronic Submission of Forms service on the RVD’s website www.rvd.gov.hk. Alternatively, they may submit a completed form (RVD 1070) by post or in person to the RVD at 15/F, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon. In this connection, the form RVD 1070 is available round the clock by downloading from the RVD’s website, by calling its hotline 2152 0111 (handled by 1823) or its automated telephone enquiry service on 2152 2152.
This administrative measure to defer payment of rates and Government rent for Specified Commercial Premises forms part of the enhancements to the Rental Enforcement Moratorium measure proposed in the 2022-23 Budget to enhance liquidity support of business tenants of specified sectors affected by the fifth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic. The Ordinance for introducing the statutory measure, i.e. the Temporary Protection Measures for Business Tenants (COVID-19 Pandemic) Ordinance, commences operation on May 1 upon its gazettal.