TL;DR
- Incorporating creates the company. Business registration puts it on the Inland Revenue Department's business register. A Hong Kong company needs both, whether or not it's trading yet.
- A one-year certificate is HK$2,350 in 2026/27. Three years is HK$6,170.
- The price went up HK$150 on 1 April 2026 because a two-year levy waiver ended.
- It renews every year off a demand note posted to the business address the IRD holds for you, so make sure that address is current.
A company incorporated in Hong Kong has to hold a business registration certificate whether or not it has started trading, so a limited company always needs both. A freelancer or sole trader has no company to incorporate but still needs business registration, because the law counts a profession as a business, and they have one month from the day they start to apply. The exemptions are narrow, charities and licensed hawkers being the main ones.
For companies the two steps are handled together. Since February 2011 an application to incorporate has been treated as an application for business registration too, and the two certificates are issued at the same time.
The certificate itself
It shows the business name, address, nature of business and a registration number. The first eight digits of that number are what the IRD gives as a Hong Kong entity's tax identification number. The law requires a valid certificate to be displayed in a conspicuous place where the business is carried on. In practice the person who asks to see it most is your bank, followed by the odd client who wants proof you're real before they pay.
What it costs this year
| Certificate | Fee | Levy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| One year | HK$2,200 | HK$150 | HK$2,350 |
| Three years | HK$5,720 | HK$450 | HK$6,170 |
The levy funds the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, which pays staff part of what they're owed when an employer goes under. When the 2024-25 Budget put the registration fee up from HK$2,000 to HK$2,200, the levy was waived for two years to soften the rise. That waiver ended on 31 March 2026 and this year's Budget didn't renew it.
The amount is fixed by the date your certificate starts, whatever day you pay, so a one-year certificate that began in March 2026 was still HK$2,200 even if the money went over in April. If you run more than one location, each branch needs its own certificate at HK$230 a year.
Renewing
About a month before your certificate expires, the IRD posts a demand note to the business address it holds for you, which for many small companies is the registered office. Once you've paid, the receipted demand note is the new certificate. There are no forms unless something has changed.
The weak point is the address. Filing a change of registered office with the Companies Registry only updates the IRD if the change was e-filed and the Registry was asked to pass it on. Otherwise the IRD needs its own form, and if you've moved provider and that step was missed, the demand note ends up in someone else's mailroom. Not receiving it is no defence, because you're expected to tell the IRD in writing within a month of expiry if nothing has arrived, and an overdue demand note can attract a penalty. Some founders pay for three years at once, which avoids two of those demand notes. You have to elect for it at least a month before the current certificate expires, and nothing is refunded if the business closes early.
If you don't have one
Trading without a valid certificate is an offence, and the maximum is a HK$5,000 fine and a year in prison. The more usual outcome, as far as we've seen, is a penalty on top of the fee, and anyone who registers more than 12 months late is also charged the fee and levy for the back years.
Changes
If your business name, business address or line of business changes, tell the IRD within a month and it will issue an amended certificate. Its published list of charges doesn't show a fee for that. A change of company name is simpler, because the Companies Registry passes it to the IRD for you.
How we handle it
The BR renewal sits inside our HK$8,800 company secretary fee, government charge included. The new certificate goes onto your dashboard the day it lands so you've got it when the bank asks. For new companies, the first year's certificate is part of the HK$3,895 government fee on incorporation.
