From the year of assessment 2018/19 onwards, you may apply for the Personal Disability Allowance if you are qualified to receive one under the Government's Disability Allowance Scheme. The allowance from 2023/24 onwards is $75,000 per year.
1. What will happen if I fail to file my tax return or provide false information to the inland revenue department?
The duty to furnish Tax Return and information to the Commissioner for Inland Revenue is governed by section 51 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance.
Under section 80(2) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, any person who without reasonable excuse-
commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $10,000 and a further fine of treble the amount of tax which has been undercharged in consequence of such incorrect return, statement or information, or would have been so undercharged if the return, statement or information had been accepted as correct, or which has been undercharged in consequence of the failure to comply with a notice under section 51(1) or (2A) or a failure to comply with section 51(2), or which would have been undercharged if such failure had not been detected.
2. I have made an error in the tax return submitted to the Inland Revenue Department and have not yet received the notice of assessment. What should I do?
If you filed your Tax Return electronically, you can fix any mistakes or omissions by visiting the "Contact Us" section after logging into your eTAX Account.
If you submitted a paper Tax Return, you must provide the updated information in the format needed in a letter to the assessor of the Inland Revenue Department, or in a form that is specifically indicated here.
1. I received a Salaries Tax assessment and found that the income assessed and the tax charged are too high. Can I raise objection against this?
Yes. You must lodge a written notice of objection with the Inland Revenue Department within one month after the date of issue of the assessment, stating the grounds for your objection clearly. You may complete the relevant parts of the Form I.R.831 for objection / application for revision of assessment, and return it to the Inland Revenue Department either by post (P.O. Box 28777, Concorde Road Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong) or by fax (2877 1232).
Alternatively, if you have opened your eTAX Account, you can lodge a notice of objection against the assessment via your eTAX Account.
If the income was estimated or you do not get the full entitlement to allowances, you should find out if the assessment was an estimated assessment raised under section 59(3) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. If it is, you must submit a completed Tax Return together with your objection letter.
Pending the ultimate settlement of the objection, you should pay as indicated on the demand note, or follow the Assessor's advice regarding how much tax you should pay (whether you have to pay the full tax or, are allowed to pay a lesser amount of tax in the first instance). The Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department may impose a surcharge on any tax not settled by the due date.
If you are still not satisfied with the determination of the Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department , you may further lodge a n appeal against the determination with the Board of Review (Inland Revenaue Ordinance) which is an independent tribunal. Your appeal should be made in writing to the Clerk to the Board of Review (Inland Revenue Ordinance) within one month of the date of the Commissioner's written determination.
Generally speaking, you are a self-employed person if you work for yourself and are not employed as an employee. Without any employment relationship, if your income comes from the buying and selling of goods, or from providing professional or personal services, you are considered as carrying on a trade, business or profession and a self-employed person.
A self-employed person may be a sole proprietor or a partner of a partnership business.
As a self-employed person, you are subject to Profits Tax on the assessable profits of your sole proprietorship or partnership business. In short, you need to:
Depending on whether you are a sole-proprietor or partner of a partnership business, you should report the profits/loss of your business in Part 5 of your Tax Return - Individuals (B.I.R. 60) or Profits Tax Return - Persons Other Than Corporations (B.I.R. 52) accordingly.
Corporations and businesses can voluntarily e-file Profits Tax returns starting from the year of assessment of 2022/23 through eTAX and enjoy a further one-month extension of filing deadline. For more instructions, please refer to here.
How should we address the fact that the property has been sub-divided into a number of small units for letting on the Tax Return?
Each small unit's rental income must be summed up, and the total rental income must be reported in Part 4.2 of the Property Tax Return.
Between August and October 2022, the Property remained vacant. What information should we include about this situation in the Tax Return for that year?
In the top section of Part 4 of the Return, you should add a "✓" in the box against "Yes" before reporting the rent details. The necessary number of full months to be specified in Part 4.1 is “9”. The dates that you will be renting out your property, such as 1 April 2022 to 31 July 2022 and 1 November 2022 to 31 March 2023, must also be stated. The entire rental income should then be reported in Part 4.2 of the Return.
I rent out one room in my flat and the remaining area is for my own use. How should I report this situation in the Tax Return?
In the top section of Part 4 of the Return, you should put a "✓" in the box against "Yes" then proceed to report in Part 4.2, the rental income from letting that room.
A Hong Kong resident means an individual who ordinarily resides in Hong Kong, or an individual who stays in Hong Kong for more than 180 days during a year of assessment or for more than 300 days in two consecutive years of assessment (one of which is the relevant year of assessment). However, a holder of the Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card does not necessarily mean he/she is a Hong Kong resident for this purpose.
The following criteria will determine whether someone is considered a resident of one side or the other, in order of priority:
Applying for Certificate of Resident Status to claim Tax Benefits
For the purpose of claiming tax benefits under Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreements / Arrangements (DTAs), The Inland Revenue Department issues a Certificate of Resident Status to a Hong Kong resident who needs proof of resident status. The Certificate of Resident Status should constitute a sufficient proof of the resident status of a Hong Kong resident. Applicants should be aware that issuance of a Certificate of Resident Status will not guarantee that they will be successful in their claim to benefits under the relevant DTA, which will be subject to the treaty partner’s determination and assessment.
Hong Kong resident individuals may apply for a Certificate of Resident Status in Hong Kong by completing Form IR1314A and submitting it to the Inland Revenue Department. In general, those individuals include:
In respect of the DTA between Mainland and Hong Kong, a Certificate of Resident Status issued to an applicant for a particular calendar year generally serves as a proof of the Hong Kong resident status of the applicant for that calendar year and the two succeeding calendar years.
The Inland Revenue Department aims to issue a certificate of resident status within 21 working days of receiving a properly submitted application. Normally, this will be mailed to you; alternatively, you may request in writing to pick it up in person.
2. Making appeals or enquiries
A Hong Kong resident who wishes to dispute a tax assessment in Hong Kong may, by notice in writing to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, object to the assessment within one month after the date of the notice of assessment.
Where a Hong Kong resident considers that the Mainland tax imposed is not in line with the DTA, he/she should raise the issue with the relevant Mainland tax authority within the specified period (Note: If you cannot find out the contact details of Mainland tax authority, check with the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department). If the matter could not be resolved, he/she may seek assistance from the Inland Revenue Department by submitting relevant information for examination. The Inland Revenue Department will consult the Mainland tax authority concerned, with a view to resolving the problem.
For enquiries on matters relating to the DTA, you may send an email to the Inland Revenue Department at taxinfo@ird.gov.hk, or telephone: 187 8088.
While there are no such tax incentives in Hong Kong, the Mainland China tax authorities do provide certain tax incentives to eligible individuals. For instance, on 6 November 2019, the Central Government promulgated 16 policy measures for the benefits of Hong Kong people’s development in the Greater Bay Area. Amongst other measures, the tax incentives in the Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong residents are highlighted as follows:
Individual Income Tax Preferential Policies in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area
On 2 June 2023, in furtherance of the tax relief measure to high-end talents pursuant to the "Notice on Implementing the Individual Income Tax Preferential Policies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” in 2019, the Guangdong government authorities issued the “Notice in relation to Further Implementation of Individual Income Tax Preferential Policies in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area” (“Further Notice”), announcing that, starting from 21 June 2023, overseas high-end and urgently needed talents working in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area will enjoy a subsidy by the government of the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta in respect of his/her portion of the Individual Income Tax paid in the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta that exceeds 15% of the tax amount calculated based on the taxable income, subject to a cap of RMB 5 million for each taxpayer in each tax year.
The Individual Income Tax under the Further Notice refers to the amount paid on the following gains/income:
In order to apply for and receive the subsidies, the relevant Hong Kong taxpayer must fulfill the following basic criteria:
Taxpayers should consult the local tax authorities for detailed requirements and procedures of the Individual Income Tax Preferential application. The application may be submitted by the applicant or his/her authorised employer.
This above is not an exhaustive list of the relevant tax incentives for Hong Kong residents working in the GBA, but only some highlights as of the last reviewed date of this page for your information. You should therefore be mindful that these tax incentives provided by the Mainland China tax authorities may change and should consult the relevant local tax authorities in the Mainland China if you have any queries.
Any person who is not satisfied with an assessment may appeal to the District Court within one month from the date of the notice of assessment.
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