TL;DR
- Annual return: within 42 days after each incorporation anniversary, HK$105 on time, up to HK$3,480 late.
- Business Registration renewal: every year on a one-year certificate, HK$2,350 for 2026/27.
- Profits tax return: issued each April, deadline set by your year-end (early May, mid-August or mid-November with a tax representative).
- Employer's return: issued each April, due in one month, and filed even if it's nil.
- Audited accounts every year with no size exemption, dormant companies aside. Seven dates across two departments and an auditor for a company with no staff and no changes.
Companies Registry
The annual return, form NAR1, is due within 42 days after each anniversary of incorporation and costs HK$105 on time. Late fees are measured from the anniversary: HK$870 within three months of it, HK$1,740 within six, HK$2,610 within nine and HK$3,480 beyond that. The company and every responsible person, directors included, can also be prosecuted, though in our experience the fee is the usual consequence.
The other Registry filings are triggered by events, and most have a 15-day limit. That covers form ND2A when a director or secretary joins or leaves, ND2B when an officer's particulars change, NR1 when the registered office moves, and NNC2 (with a HK$295 fee) after the special resolution to change the company's name. An allotment of shares is reported on form NSC1 within one month.
The Significant Controllers Register isn't filed but has to exist from day one, at the registered office or another Hong Kong address notified to the Registry. Changes go in within seven days of the company confirming the details, and not keeping one is an offence.
Inland Revenue Department
Business Registration is renewed every year unless you hold a three-year certificate. The IRD issues a demand note about a month before the new certificate starts, payable by the date printed on it, and a one-year renewal costs HK$2,350 in 2026/27.
The first profits tax return (BIR51) usually arrives around 18 months after incorporation, and after that returns go out on the first working day of April each year. The filing deadline depends on your accounting year-end, and the dates in brackets are the IRD's for 2025/26 returns.
| Year-end | Filing deadline (with tax representative extension) |
|---|---|
| 1 April to 30 November (N code) | Early May (4 May 2026), no extension |
| December (D code) | Mid-August (17 August 2026) |
| January to March (M code) | Mid-November (16 November 2026) |
Without a tax representative, the deadline is one month from issue for every code. A first return gets three months either way.
The employer's return (BIR56A, with an IR56B per employee) is issued at the start of April and due within one month, and a company with no employees that receives one files it nil. A new hire goes on form IR56E within three months of starting, and a leaver on IR56F a month before the last day, or IR56G if they're leaving Hong Kong.
Provisional tax is based on the previous year's assessment and is normally payable in two instalments, on the dates printed on the demand note. January and April are the usual salaries tax months and aren't guaranteed for a company.
Accounting and audit
Every company has to have its financial statements audited each year, however small it is, and only a company that has formally gone dormant is excused. The first financial year has to end within 18 months of incorporation. The audited statements are then laid before the shareholders or approved by written resolution, and they go in with the profits tax return.
A private company holds its annual general meeting within nine months of its year-end. It doesn't need one if it has a single member or if the shareholders have unanimously dispensed with it by written resolution, which in our experience most small companies do.
MPF, if you employ anyone
New employees aged 18 to 64 have to be enrolled within their first 60 days. Employer and employee each contribute 5 per cent of relevant income, capped at HK$1,500 a month each. For monthly-paid staff the money is due by the tenth of the following month, and late contributions attract a 5 per cent surcharge.
What a typical year one looks like
Incorporate in September 2026 with no staff, and the SCR exists from day one. An employer's return in April 2027, if the IRD issues one, goes back nil. The first BR renewal is due in September 2027, at HK$2,350 if this year's rate holds, and the first annual return between mid-October and mid-November 2027, 42 days after the anniversary. The first year-end can be no later than March 2028, and the first profits tax return arrives at about the same time, needing audited accounts for that period.
That's seven dates across two departments and an auditor, for a company with no employees and no changes. Add a director joining, a share transfer and two members of staff and the count is closer to fifteen.
We track every one of these on the Peblx platform from the day a company joins us, and if a filing is late because of a delay on our side after you've given us what we need, we pay the government penalty. The full terms of the On-Time Filing Guarantee are on our site.
