Archive for the ‘English’ Category

Claiming “Offshore Tax Credit” for a Hong Kong company

Friday, November 2nd, 2012

A Hong Kong company that does not derive income in Hong Kong is not required to pay tax to the Hong Kong government, even if it has a profit.  To claim the offshore tax credit:

  1. Make sure your company does not have any clients in Hong Kong , and does not derive any income here
  2. *Very Important* Inform your accountant your intention to claim the foreign tax credit.
  3. Gather proof that no income is derived in Hong Kong. We have heard that it is harder for an Internet company to prove.
  4. Upon receiving the offshore tax credit application, the tax department may issue the company a letter with questions. You will need to answer the questions.

Note that the offshore tax credit is granted on a case by case basis. There is no model answer for the tax department’s questions. If the government grants the credit, the company does not have to pay tax to the government. But still, it will need to do the accounting, audit, and tax filing every year. If the government does not grant the credit, then the company will have to pay tax.

More information can be found here:

http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/paf/bus_pft_tsp.htm

http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pol/dta.htm

Hong Kong company accounting, audit, and tax filing cost range

Friday, November 2nd, 2012

Any Hong Kong company that has conducted business must file audited account to the Inland Revenue Department. The first one should be filed 18 months after incorporation, and the subsequent ones are filed every 12 months. The cost of the accounting, audit, and tax filing depends on the number of transactions the company had monthly, the nature of the business, and the turn over. Here are some examples of the cost:

  1. A Hong Kong company that holds a property and receives monthly rent from the property: HKD $3,500 - HKD $5,000
  2. A Hong Kong trading company that buys goods from Asian countries and sell to European countries: HKD $7,000 - HKD $10,000
  3. A Hong Kong trading company that trades by containers as well as sells on the Internet: HKD $12,000
  4. A Hong Kong company that has several stock trading accounts and conducts day trading using the accounts: HKD $26,000
  5. A Hong Kong company that has several stock accounts in different countries and conducted 12 million computerized transactions during the year: HKD $200,000

So the cost varies a lot. For a more precise quotation, the accountant will need to review the bank account statements of the company. If you have more questions about Hong Kong company accounting, audit, and tax filing, please contact us: info@jinetic.com

Preparing for the bank meeting

Thursday, October 25th, 2012
  1. Who must go to the bank?
    1. If there is only one director, the only director must go to the bank to open the bank account
    2. If there are more than one director, then at least two of the directors must to go the bank
    3. If a director is also a shareholder and owns more than 10% ownership of the company, he will also need to go.
    4. Anyone (such as a shareholder, beneficiary or an authorized person) who wants to be a signatory of the bank account must also go.
    5. The directors and authorized signatories must be able to speak either English, Cantonese, or Mandarin. No translator is allowed to be present during the bank interview.
  2. What documents are required?
    1. Directors’ and shareholders’ original identity documents such as Hong Kong Permanent ID Card or Passport. If the Hong Kong ID Card is not permanent (ID number beginning with the letter “R”), then a passport must be used.
    2. Directors’ and shareholders’ original residential proofs. Examples of residential proofs are phone bills, electricity bills, bank statements that must have the names and addresses and must be issued within 3 months.
    3. Directors’ and shareholders’ business proofs. Examples of business proofs are financial statements, bank statements, invoices, agreements, way bills, web sites, audited accounts of their previous or existing businesses. If this is their first business, their CVs, previous or existing employment contracts, school transcripts and graduation certificates.
    4. If the original document cannot be provided, then the notarized copy of the document must be provided
    5. The original company documents
    6. The documents must be either in Chinese or English. Otherwise the documents must be translated into either Chinese or English.
  3. What type of bank accounts?
    1. Business banking account
    2. Personal banking account
      1. If you want to open a personal bank account, please make sure you bring your ID and residential proof. You can let the business banking manager know and he will arrange opening the personal account for you. Anyone can open a personal bank account in Hong Kong.
  4. What are the fees?
    1. Account opening fee
    2. Monthly minimum balance fee
    3. Counter service and online service fee
  5. What additional services needed?
    1. Company credit card
      1. Hong Kong PayPal account is the only PayPal account that can withdraw to a Hong Kong bank account, and opening a Hong Kong PayPal account requires a credit card with a Hong Kong billing address.
      2. For the HSBC company credit card, at least HKD $30,000 deposit is required to secure a card with HKD $30,000 of credit.
    2. L/C account
    3. Life insurance
    4. Investment services

Conducting a name search for a Hong Kong company

Thursday, October 25th, 2012
  1. Go to http://www.icris.cr.gov.hk/csci/
  2. Select “Unregistered User
  3. In the new pop-up window, select “Accept and Login
  4. Select the “Search” drop-down menu, then select “Company Name
  5. Use “Left Partial Search ” to search for existing companies with names similar to your proposed company name
  6. *Very Important* - Use “Exact Name Search” to confirm the availability of the company name
  7. Note: Do not include sensitive words such as Guns, Weapons, Bank, etc in the company name. Also avoid using the following words in the company name: Octopus, International, Worldwide, Global, Finance. If the company name contains the word “Broker“, you will be required to provide appropriate license before opening the business banking account.

Starting a Money Exchange business in Hong Kong

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Any company that plans to conduct money exchange business in Hong Kong must register with the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU): http://www.jfiu.gov.hk

We have also heard that as of today HSBC no longer opens bank accounts for companies that conduct money exchange. Both the Standard Chartered Bank and the Bank of China will open the bank accounts on a case by case basis.

Notes on BVI Company Incorporation

Sunday, July 4th, 2010
  • Before BVI company incorporation, the directors’ and shareholders’ original passports and residential proofs must be provided. If not, the certified true copies or notarized copies of the documents must be provided.
  • Note that not all companies or organizations are willing to do business with BVI companies. Before forming a BVI company, you may want to ask your suppliers or clients whether they are willing to do business with a BVI company.
  • A BVI company can hold properties in Hong Kong without being registered as a non-Hong Kong company.
  • A BVI company by itself cannot conduct business or lease property in Hong Kong. By itself, it cannot subscribe to any services in Hong Kong (such as subscribing mobile phone service or courier service.) However, it can be registered in Hong Kong as a non-Hong Kong company. Once it has been registered, it can be operated as if it were a Hong Kong company, and a Hong Kong business registration will be issued to the BVI company. However, the company will need to file Annual Return and yearly audited financial report to the Hong Kong government, and pay tax in Hong Kong if there is any profit generated here.
  • A BVI company can open a bank account in Hong Kong. The following documents are required for the account opening:
    • the directors’ and shareholders’ original passports and residential proofs. If not, the certified true copies or notarized copies of the documents;
    • Certificate of Incumbency;
    • Certificate of Incorporation;
    • Memorandum and Articles of Association.
  • To obtain a commercial credit card for the BVI company, the commercial credit card will be required to link to a personal bank account in the same bank of the director or shareholder.
  • The BVI company will come with a registered office address in BVI, however, the address cannot be used for mailing purpose. There is no need to use our address as the Corresponding Address of the company unless you want us to receive mails for it. You may use a non-Hong Kong / non-BVI address as the Corresponding Address of the company.
  • The cost of legalizing the documents of a BVI company will be much higher than that of a Hong Kong company.
  • Directors or shareholders of a BVI company who are U.S. citizens or residents will be required to sign a form declaring that all incomes of the company is legal and that they will fulfill their tax filing obligation.
  • BVI companies can open investment bank accounts in Hong Kong to trade stocks. However, as profit may arise in Hong Kong, the BVI companies may be required to be registered as a non-Hong Kong company. Therefore, it is recommended to use a personal bank account to trade stocks in Hong Kong. The banks in Hong Kong are unlikely to open investment accounts to the companies in which U.S. or Canadian citizens or residents are shareholders or directors of the companies.
  • Our BVI Incorporation Pricing

Opening a Travel Agency in Hong Kong

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

The steps of using a Hong Kong limited company to set up a Travel Agency are as follow:

  1. The authorized capital should be set to at least HKD $500,000, so there will be an extra governmental fee of HKD $500 or more for the company registration;
  2. All the shares must be assigned, ie, paid-up capital should be at least HKD $500,000. The company will then have at least HKD $500,000 of asset at the time of incorporation;
  3. A letter issued by a Hong Kong CPA / lawyer certifying that HKD $500,000 has been deposited into the company’s bank account. Note that the money can be withdrawn after the TIC membership approval;
  4. If possible, check the company name with the Travel Agents Registry before company registration: +852 2807 1199;
  5. Leasing of an actual office in Hong Kong. While the company can do any business, the office can only operate the travel agency;
  6. If none of the directors have work permits to work in Hong Kong, the company must hire someone who can work legally here;
  7. Read the FAQs here:
    1. http://www.tar.gov.hk/eng/frequently/index.html
    2. http://www.tichk.org/public/website/en/member_service/membership/application/html
    3. http://www.tichk.org/public/website/en/forms/membership/application_info_english.pdf

2010 Business Hours

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

Chinese New Year Holidays:

  • 2010/2/13 (Saturday) -2010/2/17 (Wednesday): closed

Regular Hours:

Monday - Friday, 10:00am - 6:00pm

For emergency, please email us at info@jinetic.com, or SMS at +852 66128714

Thanks.

Hong Kong Company Apostilles

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

How to obtain apostilles for Hong Kong company incorporation documents?

You need to know precisely which documents you need to obtain the apostilles for because they are quite expensive (HKD $125 each page charged by the court. Also we need to obtain certified copies from the government). It will be cheaper if you just want the apostilles for the Certificate of Incorporation, and Business Registration.

The total cost for obtaining the apostille is HKD $1,000 (service fee) + court fee + governmental fee

For example, to obtain the apostilles for a complete set of Hong Kong incorporation documents (for a brand new company, not a shelf company), the cost will be (in HKD):

Form NC1 = $170 (certified copy) + 6*$125 (apostille fee, assuming there are 6 pages) = $920
Memorandum and Articles of Association = $170 + 8*$125 (apostille fee, assuming there are 8 pages) = $1,170
Certificate of Incorporation = $170 + $125 = $295
Business Registration = $50 + $125 = $175
Government and Court fees subtotal = $2,560

Our service fee = $1,000

Total: HKD $3,560 or USD $462

2009 - 2010 Business Registration fee

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

***(2009/6/25) - The information in this post is outdated. Please refer to this link about the 2009/8/1-2010/7/31 Business Registration fee: http://www.jinetic.com/blog/?p=81

According to the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department web site, the Business Registration fee of year 2009 - 2010 will return to HKD $2,000: http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/br_fee_table.pdf

Consequently, our Hong Kong incorporation fees for both Package A and Package B will increase by HKD $2,000 for the companies incorporated on or after April 1st, 2009. The new cost for Package A is HKD $5,380 (up from $3,380), for Package B is HKD $6,280 (up from $4,280). The cost for the pre-formed shelf companies incorporated on or after April 1st, 2009 will also increase by HKD $2,000 to HKD $6,500 (up from $4,500).

If the incorporation order is made before March 31st, 2009, but the company is formed after the date, an additional fee of HKD $2,000 will be requested before obtaining the Business Registration.

As the Hong Kong government is finding ways to boost the economy, please stay tuned for the latest fee information.