Hong Kong
Hong Kong: 3 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Hong Kong
The 3 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Hong Kong is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Other articles of precious metalOther articles of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metalUS$1.2 bn · 11.6% of world exports of 113 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Unmanned aircraftUS$583 m · 8.8% of world exports of 146 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndResearch and technology High-technology exportsUS$422.3 bn of 123 economies · 2024 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s3rdWorld-leading exports Apricots, cherries, peaches and plumsApricots, cherries, peaches (including nectarines), plums and sloes, freshUS$1.3 bn · 11.9% of world exports of 152 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s3rdForeign investment Foreign direct investment received, a year on averageUS$122.9 bn of 182 economies · 2023–2025 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s joint7thLogistics and freight Logistics Performance Index4.0 of 5 of 138 economies · 2022 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 12
- World’s7thLogistics and freight Air freight carried8,638 million tonne-km of 137 economies · 2023 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s10thLogistics and freight Container port traffic17.8 million TEU of 118 economies · 2021 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Hong Kong. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Hong Kong.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Hong Kong: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Hong Kong belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
Hong Kong’s own position
- Customs territory
- Its own (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a separate customs territory)
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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be a separate customs territory.
- VAT territory
- None levied
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There is no value-added or sales tax; no capital gains tax;
- Agreements in force
- The authority’s own list read 27 Oct 2026
In regional arrangements
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- Has asked to join
Hong Kong, China. Listed by the RCEP Support Unit among five economies that have submitted formal requests to accede; the page does not say any accession has been agreed.
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1 January 2022 Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 16.5%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Audit of financial statements is required for all companies, including companies falling within the reporting exemption, except dormant companies (section 447).Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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Audit of financial statements is required for all companies, including companies falling within the reporting exemption, except dormant companies (section 447).
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- HKD 105Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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For a private company, an annual registration fee of HK$105 is payable if the annual return is delivered within 42 days after the most recent anniversary of the date of incorporation
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Hong Kong, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- VAT or sales tax
- None levied
Hong Kong has no VAT, GST or sales tax. The Inland Revenue Department's Departmental Interpretation and Practice Notes No. 47 describe a tax system in which only three direct taxes are imposed: profits tax, salaries tax and property tax. A business therefore has no consumption-tax registration, rate or return.
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Since Hong Kong has a simple tax system under which only three direct taxes are imposed (i.e. profits tax, salaries tax and property tax)
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Hong Kong, tax year 2025/26, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- Set each year by decree · each year
The 2025/26 profits tax returns were issued on 1 April 2026 and must be filed within one month, i.e. by 4 May 2026 because 1 May 2026 is a public holiday. Where a tax representative is appointed the Block Extension Scheme extends the date by accounting-date code (D code 31 August 2026, M code 30 November 2026, loss cases 1 February 2027), with a further month for electronic filing; a Part 4AA entity subject to mandatory electronic filing also gets a further month.
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The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) today (April 1) issued about 270 000 profits tax returns, 120 000 property tax returns and 340 000 employer's returns for the year of assessment 2025-26
- Corporate tax, final payment
- Set each year by decree · each year
The Inland Revenue Ordinance provides that the tax is paid on the date specified in the notice of assessment, not on a calendar date the Department publishes; the demand note prints that date (and, where the tax is billed in two instalments, the dates of both). The rule is therefore recorded as decree with no dates, because the date is set per notice and the Department publishes no calendar rule.
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shall be paid in the manner directed in the notice of assessment on or before a date specified in such notice
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · each year
Provisional profits tax is billed with the profits tax assessment and is payable on the dates printed on that notice; where it is payable in two instalments, the second becomes due immediately if the first is missed. No calendar date is published, so rule_type is decree with no dates.
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If the first instalment is not paid by the date specified on the notice of assessment, the second instalment will become immediately due.
- Personal income-tax return
- Set each year by decree · each year
The 2025/26 individual returns were issued on 4 May 2026 and are due within one month, on or before 4 June 2026; the Department's page states the date itself.
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Taxpayers are required to complete and send the tax return back to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) within 1 month from the date of issue of the return (i.e. on or before 4 June 2026).
- Personal income tax, final payment
- Set each year by decree · each year
Salaries tax is billed by demand note and is payable on the date specified in it, commonly in two instalments; the Department publishes no calendar date. Recorded as decree with no dates so a consumer reads the notice.
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shall be paid in the manner directed in the notice of assessment on or before a date specified in such notice
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · each year
Provisional salaries tax is demanded in the same notice of assessment and is payable on the dates printed there, usually two instalments; the second becomes due immediately if the first is missed. No calendar date is published, so rule_type is decree with no dates.
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If the first instalment is not paid by the date specified on the notice of assessment, the second instalment will become immediately due.
- VAT return
- Not levied here
Hong Kong levies no value-added tax, goods and services tax or sales tax, so there is no VAT return. The statement is the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau's prevailing tax policy page.
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There is no value-added or sales tax; no capital gains tax; no withholding tax on dividends and interest; and no estate duty in Hong Kong.
- Payroll withholding
- Not required here
Hong Kong has no pay-as-you-earn withholding: the employer does not deduct salaries tax from wages and remit it monthly. The employer's obligation is an annual return of each employee's income — Form BIR56A with Form IR56B per employee — due within one month from the date of issue of Form BIR56A (issued 1 April 2026 for 2025/26, so due 4 May 2026). Withholding is required only in the specific case of an employee about to leave Hong Kong, which is not the standard monthly obligation.
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Within 1 month from the date of issue of Form BIR56A.
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Hong Kong yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Hong Kong exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Hong Kong’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold (including gold plated with platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form HS 7108 | 8.9% | 17.8% | 22.7% | US$35.6 bn |
| Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528 HS 8517 | 8.8% | 9.3% | 10.4% | US$16.3 bn |
| Electronic integrated circuits HS 8542 | 13.4% | 4.2% | 7.9% | US$12.3 bn |
| Turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines HS 8411 | 5.8% | 8.2% | 7.3% | US$11.4 bn |
| Flat panel display modules, whether or not incorporating touch-sensitive screens HS 8524 | 0.69% | 1.0% | 5.0% | US$7.9 bn |
| Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted or set HS 7102 | 6.3% | 3.7% | 3.2% | US$4.9 bn |
| Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal HS 7113 | 3.1% | 4.9% | 3.0% | US$4.8 bn |
| Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8470 to 8472 HS 8473 | 3.0% | 1.7% | 2.5% | US$3.9 bn |
| Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or included HS 8471 | 5.2% | 3.1% | 2.3% | US$3.6 bn |
| Printed circuits HS 8534 | 1.9% | 0.91% | 1.1% | US$1.7 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$156.5 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.