Hong Kong Salaries Tax

Calculating Net Chargeable Income

Personal Income Tax Rates

For guidance purposes, the approximate exchange rate for Hong Kong dollar is 1 USD = 7.8 HKD.

A person’s income from employment, less allowable deductions, charitable donations and personal allowances, is chargeable to salaries tax at the following progressive rates: (Year of Assessment 2018/19 onwards#)

#Until superseded.

Net chargeable income or income subject to taxation is determined as follows:

The maximum tax payable is, however, limited to tax at the standard rate of 15% on the person's income from employment less allowable deductions and charitable donations, but without a deduction for personal allowances.

Net Chargeable Income = Income – Deductions – Allowances

Please, note that the basic allowance applicable to all tax payers in Hong Kong is 132,000 HKD (2018/19 onwards#). 

Whereas total income includes:

• Salaries, wages and director’s fees
• Commissions, bonuses, leave pay and end-of-contract gratuities and payments in lieu of notice accrued on or after 1 April 2012.
• Allowances, perquisites and fringe benefits such as cash allowances, liability of employees discharged by employers, convertible benefits, education benefits and holiday journey benefits
• Salaries tax paid by employer
• Termination payments and retirement benefits including accrued benefits received from recognized occupational retirement schemes or receipt or deemed receipt from mandatory provident fund schemes
• Pensions
• Back pay, gratuities, deferred pay and pay-in-arrears
• Stock awards and share options obtained from holding an office or employment
• Tips received from your employer or any other person
• Rental value of a place of residence that has been provided by the employer

Non-assessable income includes:

• Severance payments and long service payments that are payable under the Employment Ordinance are not assessable income. However, any amount in excess of an employee’s entitlement under the Employment Ordinance is assessable to salaries tax.
• Jury fees.

Allowable deductions and allowances include:

Deductions allowable under Salaries Tax and Personal Assessment:

• Outgoings and expenses
• Qualified outgoing and expenses under very stringent conditions
• Depreciation and capital allowances for plant and machinery that have been used to generate assessable income
• Self-education expenses
• Approved charitable donations
• Contributions to a Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme or Recognized Occupational Retirement Scheme
• Home loan interest, subject to certain qualifying conditions
• Elderly residential care expenses

Personal allowances include:

• Basic allowance
• Married person's allowance
• Child allowance
• Dependent brother or dependent sister allowance
• Dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance
• Additional dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance
• Single parent allowance
• Personal disability allowance
• Disabled dependent allowance

What Income is Considered “Earned in Hong Kong”?

Hong Kong salaries tax is imposed on all employment income arising in or derived from Hong Kong. In other words, if your source of employment is in Hong Kong, i.e. you are employed by a Hong Kong company to work in Hong Kong; your full income is chargeable to salaries tax.

However, you can claim full or partial exemption of income or tax relief, under the following circumstances on a year-by-year basis:

• If all services are rendered outside Hong Kong during a year of assessment (unless you are a civil servant or a crew member of a ship or an aircraft) you are exempt from paying salaries tax for that particular year of assessment. Income from services rendered in Hong Kong during visits not exceeding a total of 60 days in the year is also exempt from tax. Whether the nature of a trip to Hong Kong is a “visit” or not is assessed by authorities on a case-by-case basis.
• If part of your income has already been charged to tax in another territory during the year of assessment, you can claim partial exemption of income from salaries tax in Hong Kong. However, you will have to furnish evidence of foreign tax payment.

If your source of employment is outside Hong Kong, i.e. you are employed by an overseas company but are assigned to work in Hong Kong for a few years by your overseas employer; you are only assessed on the income attributable to the services you render in Hong Kong.

Tax Treatment of Employer Benefits

Most gains and profits derived by you in respect of your employment are taxable.

The gains or profits include benefits, whether in money or otherwise, paid or granted to you in respect of employment. Some common examples of taxable benefits include:

• Accommodation and housing allowance
• Meal allowance
• Education benefits for your children
• Company gifted car
• Holiday journey allowances
• Share awards and share options

Note that some of the non-cash benefits are taxed using special formulas. Further details on this are outside the scope of this guide.
Read more on Hong Kong Visas for employees and Hong Kong tax rate.

Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax or Estate Duty

Capital gains refer to investment income that arises in relation to stocks, bonds or real estate. Hong Kong does not impose any capital gains tax.

Inheritance tax or estate duty is a tax on the total market value of a person’s assets (cash and non-liquid assets) at the time of his/her death. Estate Duty in Hong Kong has been abolished since February 2006.

Filing Personal Tax Return

Every taxpayer has to file annual tax returns with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

The year of assessment runs from April 1 through March 31 of the following year. IRD sends out individual tax returns by May 1. Tax returns normally have to be submitted within one month from the date of issue.

Note that even if you do not have any income to report, you still need to declare zero income in your tax form.

A married couple can elect to receive a joint assessment, if the single assessment based on their combined income results in a lesser tax liability. 

With effect from 1 April 2019, 3 supplementary forms to Tax Return, being part of the return, should be filed together with the return.

If you are a sole-proprietor of a business, you can file the returns within 3 months from the date of issue. You can choose to file your returns online or by postal mail. After you have filed your returns, you will receive your ‘Notice of Assessment’ or tax bill from the Inland Revenue Department. The tax bill will indicate the amount of tax you are liable to pay for the given year of assessment. It will also state the provisional salaries tax payable for the succeeding year of assessment.

If you disagree with the tax bill, you need to inform the tax department within 30 days from the issue date of your tax bill and state your reasons for objection. Notwithstanding any notice of objection lodged by you, tax must be paid on or before the due date specified in the notice of assessment.

The Commissioner of Inland Revenue may impose penalties or issue an estimated assessment if there is a delay in filing the return.

An Attractive Relocation Destination

A well-regulated yet simple tax system and low personal income tax rates have increased Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the region and it remains an attractive relocation destination for foreign professionals.

Moreover, unlike many western nations, Hong Kong has no capital gains tax – a policy that encourages investment by citizens and foreigners alike.