Frequently Asked Questions

Completion and Filing of Return

Tax Return – Individuals (BIR60)
If you receive Tax Return – Individuals (BIR60) from the Inland Revenue Department, you must complete, sign and file it in time even if you do not have any income to report.
If you are married for all or part of the year and have elected joint assessment or personal assessment or have been nominated by your spouse to claim home loan interest deduction, your BIR60 should also be signed by your spouse.

Property Tax Return (BIR57 or BIR58)
You have to report income from property jointly owned or co-owned by yourself with other person(s) in the Property Tax Return (BIR57).
Other person(s) including corporation and body of persons.
To report income from property held by corporations or bodies of persons, you have to complete Property Tax Return (BIR58).

Profits Tax Return (BIR51 or BIR52 or BIR54)
If you carry on a trade, profession or business in the form of a corporation, partnership business or if a non-resident person is chargeable to profits tax in your name, you must complete all items in the following profits tax returns (if applicable) to report the profits tax liability:
（１）Profits Tax Return – Corporations (BIR51)
（２）Profits Tax Return – Persons Other Than Corporations (BIR52)
（３）Profits Tax Return – In Respect Of Non-Resident Persons (BIR54)

Failure to Submit Tax Return
In all cases if you cannot lodge a tax return by the due date or the extended due date, estimated assessment will be issued and you may be required to pay more tax. You may also be subject to penalty proceedings which include payment of penalty, or even prosecuted.

Tax obligation for an employer

Keeping payroll records

（１）Your tax obligations commence when you hire the first employee

（２）On hiring the employee, you have to maintain a record of that person’s:

（a）personal particulars (name, address, identity card or passport number with country of issue, marital status)
（b）nature of employment (full time or part-time)
（c）capacity in which employed (e.g. sales manager, salesman, worker, in-house lawyer, accountant, director)
（d）amount of cash remuneration (regardless of denomination in domestic or foreign currency and remuneration paid overseas)
（e）non-cash and fringe benefits (such as quarters, holiday journey benefits, share award, share option)
（f）employer’s and employee’s contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) or its equivalent
（g）employment contract and amendments to terms of employment
（h）period of employment

（３）You have to inform the Inland Revenue Department (“IRD”) the following:

（a）any change in the employee’s personal particulars (such as change in residential and postal address, change in marital status)
（b）any change in the employee’s terms of employment (such as a change from full time to part-time)
（c）the Hong Kong Identity Card No. of the employee

（４）Business owners are required to keep business accounting records, including payroll records, for at least 7 years.

Keeping Business Records

Section 51C of the Inland Revenue Ordinance requires:

• Every person carrying on a trade, profession or business in Hong Kong to keep sufficient records in the English or Chinese language of his income and expenditure to enable the the assessable profits to be readily ascertained;
• such records shall be retained for a period of not less than 7 years;
• failure to comply with the requirements of the Ordinance without reasonable excuse may be liable to a maximum fine of HK$100,000

If you want to know more about how to keep records and which records you need to keep, please refer to “A Guide to Keeping Business Records”.