Jurisdictions
Regions
Industry Sectors
Fact File
Fact File Supplied By:
Timothy Loh LLP.
Location
Hong Kong.
Time Zone
GMT +8.
Population
7.5 million (as of year-end 2023) [JLF: https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/].
Capital
Hong Kong.
Airport(s)
Chek Lap Kok.
Language
Cantonese/ English.
Currency
HK$.
Political System
Elected Legislature.
Dialing Code
+852.
Legal System
Common law.
Centre's Expertise
All areas.
Personal income tax
15%.
Corporate income tax
8.25% on assessable profits up to HK$2 million; and 16.5% on any part of assessable profits over HK$2 million.
Exchange
None.
Tax Information Exchange Agreements
Denmark, Faroes, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and USA.
Double Taxation Agreements
Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Czech, Estonia, Finland, France, Guernsey, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macao (Pending), Mainland of China, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Permitted Currencies
All.
Minimum authorised capital
No restriction.
Minimum share issue
No Restriction.
Shelf companies
Yes.
Timescale for new entities
Approximately 4 working days (for paper submission) or 1 hour (for e-submission).
Incorporation fees
About US$200 (e-submission) or US$220 (paper submission).
Annual fees
There are fees for business registration and filing returns. For business registration fees, please refer to https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/brfee_table.pdf
For fees for filing returns, please refer to https://www.cr.gov.hk/en/faq/local-company/annual-return.htm
Minimum number
One.
Residency requirements
None.
Corporate directors
Yes, for private companies which (i) are not members of a group of companies of which a Hong Kong listed company is a member, and (ii) have at least one other director who is a natural person.
Meetings/ frequency
Nil.
Disclosure
Yes.
Bearer Shares
No.
Minimum number
One.
Public share registry
Yes.
Meetings/ frequency
Annual general meeting required unless exempted or dispensed with.
Annual Return
Yes.
Audit Requirements
Yes.
Recent Legislation
• The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Disposal Gain by Holder of Qualifying Equity Interests) Ordinance 2023 was gazetted on 15 December 2023 to introduce a tax certainty enhancement scheme for onshore equity disposal gains with effect from 1 January 2024.
• The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Taxation on Foreign-sourced Disposal Gains) Ordinance 2023 was gazetted on 8 December 2023 to refine the existing foreign-sourced income exemption regime by expanding the scope of assets in relation to foreign-sourced disposal gains to cover assets other than shares or equity interests with effect from 1 January 2024.
• On 17 November 2023, the Stamp Duty (Amendment) (Stock Transfers) Ordinance 2023, which gave effect to the measure of reducing the rate of stamp duty on Hong Kong stock transfers to 0.1 per cent, came into operation.
• On 1 June 2023, the new licencing regime for centralised virtual asset trading platforms under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Ordinance 2022, came into operation.
Pending Legislation
• The Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued on 27 December 2023 a consultation paper on the legislative proposal for implementing the regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong.
Registered office
In Hong Kong.
Domicile issues
Nil.
Company naming restrictions
Please refer to https://www.cr.gov.hk/en/faq/local-company/company-name.htm
