Tax and Accounting

The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance requires all Hong Kong incorporated companies and registered entities to maintain proper books of accounts and to comply with annual audit and tax filing requirements. Hong Kong’s financial reporting standards emulate the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Hong Kong follows a territorial taxation policy and companies are taxed on the chargeable profits generated by carrying on a trade, business or profession within the territorial scope of Hong Kong. Following incorporation, the Hong Kong tax authority issues to the company the first tax return after 18 months from the incorporation and the further until tax return based on the company’s financial year end date. Even otherwise, a company has the obligation to notify authority when is it has made assessable profits. Notably, registered non Hong Kong companies are also required to file the profits for their Hong Kong branches.

Every company many determine its financial year end date which is normally 31st March or 31st December.  The month in which the financial year of the company ends generally determines the deadline for filing its tax return and financial statements for each year of assessment. Typical filing deadlines are:

Failure to file profit tax return by statutory deadlines can attract penalties. However, preoccupation with deadlines could impede the business performance and core strategic functions of the company in general and the accounting department in particular. At Hong Kong Company Incorporation, we have a competent set of tax professionals who are capable of providing end-to-end tax compliance services right from bookkeeping, to preparation and filing of profit tax return and promptly responding to the queries of the inland revenue department. In addition to the filing of profit tax return, we can help you to resolve tax disputes or advise you on measures to rectify erroneous returns that were filed within six years.

Besides filing tax returns, resolving disputes and rectifying errors our tax experts have wide-ranging expertise and experience to provide tax consultation for companies that have complex business structures that span across different jurisdictions or diverse sectors causing uncertainties of tax treatment. Also, Hong Kong has established an extensive network of tax treaties to avoid double taxation.  Our tax consultants can help you navigate around the uncertainties and identify opportunities to minimise tax liabilities, maximise deductions and save tax costs while ensuring that business affairs are compliant to avail treaty benefits. We can also conduct audits to ensure that the tax claims are supported with adequate documentation and business practices concur with the claims. Notably, such audits are not just helpful in ensuring compliance is robust, but could at times also unearth opportunities to save tax or make claims.

In effect, we provide the following Tax services:

• Tax planning for optimisation
• Tax audit
• Tax return filing
• Tax dispute resolution
• Rectify past erroneous filings

As for accounting, we firmly believe that though it is not a revenue-enhancing function, it has the potential to enhance business profitability and performance by helping us discover means of controlling costs and activities that can contribute to significant gains.  Besides there are other commercial rationales for maintaining accurate accounting records – it will enable sound business planning and decision making, timely and accurate filing of tax returns, promptly respond to inquiries by authorities, improve transparency with internal and external stakeholders and more importantly mitigate compliance costs.

Newly incorporated private companies are required to present the first set of audited accounts to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), within nine months after its financial year-end, while it is six months for other companies. There is no mandatory year-end date for Hong Kong companies; companies are free to choose their financial year-end. Limited companies in Hong Kong are required to prepare financial statements in accordance with the Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard (HKFRS), and SMEs and private companies have simplified reporting standards. Regardless of the size or the sector of operation of the companies, our accounting professionals are competent to provide comprehensive and customised accounting services.

We provide the following services:

• Bookkeeping
• Reconciliation of bank statements
• Preparation and consolidation of accounting reports and financial statements
• Management reporting