Hong Kong Business News

The Inland Revenue Department today issued about 2.77 million tax returns for individuals for the year of assessment 2025-26.

Taxpayers should file their tax returns by June 4. For sole proprietors, a three-month period is allowed and the filing deadline is August 4. Those filing through eTAX will be granted a one-month extension.

Moreover, starting from today, electronic tax filing services will be further extended to cover the filing of tax returns for claiming exemption of salaries income and relief from double taxation, and by taxpayers running sole proprietorship businesses with a gross income exceeding $2 million.

At a press conference this afternoon, Commissioner of Inland Revenue Benjamin Chan outlined the concessionary tax measures proposed in the latest Policy Address and Budget, including reductions of salaries tax, tax under personal assessment and profits tax; increases in allowances; an increase in the deduction ceiling for elderly residential care expenses; and an extension of the claim period for additional child allowance for newborns.

Mr Chan also noted that the first phase of mandatory electronic filing of profits tax returns came into effect on April 1. The “relevant entities” of multinational enterprise groups subject to the global minimum tax regime are required to file their profits tax returns electronically from the year of assessment 2025-26 onwards. He said the Inland Revenue Department will launch a new function under the Business Tax Portal in the fourth quarter to enable those entities to file top-up tax returns, as well as to view and download the electronic notices of top-up tax assessments.

Separately, on revenue collection, the department collected $458.3 billion for 2025-26, an increase of 22% from the previous year.

The revenue collection for 2026-27 is estimated at $455.1 billion, representing a 0.7% year-on-year decrease.