From the category archives:

Personal Tax

Budget Thoughts - The Misuse of Hong Kong’s Tax System

February 19, 2010

It has become a custom for the Financial Secretary, John Tsang Chun-wah, to leak a few details of his budget measures before he delivers his budget speech.  This year is no exception.  So far this year, it has been suggested that we can expect a salaries tax rebate, a waiver of [...]

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Hong Kong Budget – Further Considerations

February 10, 2010

The budget proposals issued by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong always provide interesting reading. Furthermore, they give a very useful overview of the business community’s wish list for the [...]

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Budget Mania

February 8, 2010

It is that time of year when people, typically tax partners of the larger accounting firms, attempt to predict the Hong Kong Government’s budget surplus/deficit for the current year. This is often accompanied by a call for a reduction in the rate of profits tax, i.e. the corporate tax rate. Experience has shown [...]

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Misled By The Inland Revenue Department?

November 18, 2009

When I arrived in Hong Kong in the early 1980’s obtaining a copy of the Inland Revenue Department’s Assessor’s Manual was considered essential, but extremely difficult to acquire.  Gradually the Assessor’s Manual has been replaced by a series of Departmental Interpretation and Practice Notes (DIPNs).  Whereas the Assessor’s Manual had [...]

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2010 Budget Wish List

November 9, 2009

With Hong Kong’s budget only four months away, give or take a few weeks, now is the time to make your own views known to the Financial Secretary, Mr John Tsang.
People may consider this a futile exercise, but in my opinion this is far from being the case.  The 2009 budget lacked substance, or at [...]

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US tax snoops zero in on Hong Kong? Let’s be realistic.

September 28, 2009

Nick Westra’s article in this week’s Sunday Morning Post (September 27th, 2009) must have pleased the IRS.  If anything is going to raise concern amongst US citizens living in Hong Kong it is exactly this type of suggestion that a foreign authority will have unrestricted access to information.  The article appears to ignore the fact [...]

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Expat trapped in Hong Kong

September 25, 2009

Is it time for Hong Kong to overhaul its tax collection methods? Multi million dollar losses suggest it is.

The article, ‘Expat Trapped in Hong Kong over unpaid tax bill’ that appeared in last week’s issue of The Sunday Morning Post highlighted an interesting problem for the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department.
The piece tells the story [...]

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Pension Contributions

August 26, 2009

This is not so much a rant but an expression of support for the Government’s consideration as to whether the tax thresholds for deductibility with regard to funding individuals’ MPF contributions should be increased.

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Hong Kong Confirms Need for Trust Law Reform

August 19, 2009

Consultation with industry and trust professionals will play a key part.
Contributor: Matthew Corbin
Hong Kong has not substantially revised its trust law since 1937 and as such the current legislation is now extremely dated and limited in scope when compared to many other competing offshore jurisdictions.
To urge the HKSAR Government to reform trust law, The [...]

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Meet Deadlines to Avoid Penalties

July 21, 2009

The Inland Revenue Department (“the Department”) appears to have become so frustrated with delinquent taxpayers and those that persistently miss tax filing deadlines that it has resorted to issuing a standard letter advising taxpayers that for such offences the Department is allowed to raise penalties of up to 3 times the amount of unpaid tax [...]

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