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Latest articles and guides for Hong Kong company formation
Company Chops and Signing in Hong Kong: Do You Still Need a Common Seal? (2026)
The common seal stopped being mandatory years ago, and signature by two authorised signatories has the same effect as sealing. How to set up signing authority, which documents cannot be signed electronically, and the risks of keeping a seal.
Notarising and Legalising Hong Kong Company Documents: When and How (2026)
There are two routes. Documents for mainland China go to a China-Appointed Attesting Officer; documents for elsewhere go to a Notary Public, then to the High Court for an Apostille if required. How to choose, what it costs, how long it takes.
Keeping Company Minutes: What Has to Be Recorded, and the 10-Year Rule (2026)
Hong Kong companies have to keep resolutions and minutes for at least 10 years, and a sole member's decisions have to be recorded too. Which decisions need a written record, where they are kept, and whether electronic storage is allowed.
Hong Kong Statutory Registers: The Five Books, Where to Keep Them (2026)
A Hong Kong company keeps five statutory registers: members, directors, company secretary, significant controllers and charges. What goes in each, where they must be kept, who can inspect them, and the penalty for not keeping them.
Intra-Group Stamp Duty Relief: The 90% Threshold, the Application, and the Two-Year Restriction
The same owner is not the same as "intra-group". The 90% association threshold in section 45 of the Stamp Duty Ordinance, how to apply to the Stamp Office, which forms are needed, and how relief is clawed back if the association ends within two years.
Stamp Duty on Hong Kong Share Transfers: How Much, When, and the Cost of Being Late
Buyer and seller pay 0.2% between them, plus a flat $5 on the instrument of transfer. How the valuation is determined, what documents are required, the stamping deadlines, and the 2x to 10x late-stamping penalty ladder.
Increasing and Reducing Share Capital in Hong Kong: Procedure, Deadlines and Filings
Bringing in an investor means allotting new shares; restructuring may mean reducing capital — and the two procedures have almost nothing in common. Members' resolutions, the one-month NSC1 deadline, the solvency statement, and the 5-to-7-week waiting window.
Changing Directors of a Hong Kong Company: Appointment, Resignation and Removal (2026)
Changing a director is more than holding a meeting: appointments, resignations and removals all require Form ND2A within 15 days. Who signs the form, what to do when the sole director wants to leave, and how long liability follows a departing director.
Changing a Hong Kong Company's Name: How Long It Takes and Who to Tell Afterwards (2026)
A name change needs a special resolution first, then Form NNC2 within 15 days; filed electronically the certificate usually issues within an hour. The timeline, how the business registration certificate is updated, whether old contracts still stand, and who to notify.
Notifying a Change of Registered Office: The 15-Day Deadline, Form NR1 and Penalties (2026)
Change the registered office and Form NR1 has to reach the Companies Registry within 15 days, with a fine of up to HK$25,000 per default and HK$700 a day for continuing default. How the deadline is counted, whether the IRD needs separate notice, and how to keep both in step.
Hong Kong Branch or a New Company? Registered Non-Hong Kong Company vs Subsidiary
An overseas company doing business in Hong Kong can register as a 'non-Hong Kong company' (a branch) or set up a Hong Kong subsidiary. Comparing legal status, liability, tax and the annual filing requirements.
Choosing a Financial Year End: 31 March, 31 December, or Something Else?
Your year end decides which filing category you fall into, when the return arrives, and how long an extension you can get. How 31 March, 31 December and other dates compare, and the rules on changing it later.
What Happens After Incorporation? The Seven Things to Deal With Immediately
Once the certificate of incorporation arrives there are seven more things to handle: the significant controllers register, the statutory registers, the 42-day annual return deadline, starting the books, the bank account, the year end, and MPF when you hire. The deadlines and the penalties.
What Are a Hong Kong Company's Articles of Association? Is the Registry's Model Enough?
Most people assume the articles have to be drafted from scratch. In fact the Companies Registry's model articles are enough for most private companies. What the articles must contain, when they genuinely need changing, and what to file afterwards.
How Long Does It Take to Set Up a Hong Kong Company? The Real Timeline
Electronic filing gets you the certificate within the hour; paper takes four working days. But between deciding to incorporate and actually receiving your first payment there is still the name search, the signing, and the bank account. What each step really takes.
How Does a One-Person Hong Kong Company Work? Shareholder, Director and Company Secretary
Can one person be the sole shareholder and sole director? Yes — but the law will not let you also be the company secretary. Written resolutions, the reserve director, and what happens if the sole shareholder dies.
Hong Kong Registered Office Address: Can You Use Your Home? Can You Use a PO Box? (2026)
Every Hong Kong company needs a registered office, and the law is specific: it must be a physical Hong Kong address, and PO boxes are not accepted. What you can use, the risk of using your home, how quickly a change must be filed, and the penalties.
Hong Kong Share Capital Structure: How Many Shares, What Split, and Leaving Room for New Shareholders
Most people put down 10,000 shares without thinking. Hong Kong's no-par-value regime, how many shares actually makes sense, how to split them between founders without a fight later, and how to leave room for investors.
Hong Kong Company Names: Restricted Words, How to Search, and How to Change One
You cannot call a company whatever you like. Which words need separate approval, how to check whether a name is taken, the rules on Chinese and English names, and what changing a name after incorporation involves.
Business Registration Number vs Company Registration Number: What's the Difference, and Which One Goes Where
A Hong Kong company has two numbers: the company registration number and the business registration number. Which department issues which, how to tell them apart, which one to give when opening an account, filing tax or signing a contract, and what the government's unified identifier changed.
The Annual Return NAR1: The 42-Day Deadline and What Being Late Costs
Every Hong Kong limited company files an annual return each year. How the 42 days are counted, the HK$105 on-time fee, the escalating late-filing scale, and why a company with no business still has to file.
A Hong Kong Employer's Essentials: MPF Contributions, Limits, Deadlines and the Employer's Return (2026)
Hiring your first employee means MPF contributions and an annual employer's return. The 5% contributions, the relevant income limits, the 60-day enrolment period, the 10th-of-the-month deadline, and what happens if you miss them.
The Significant Controllers Register (SCR): Who Must Keep One, the 25% Threshold, the Penalties
Almost every Hong Kong company must keep a significant controllers register recording who really controls it. Who counts as a significant controller, how the 25% threshold works, what has to be recorded, the designated representative requirement, and the penalties.
Hong Kong Audit Requirements: Who Needs One, and What Drives the Cost
Every Hong Kong limited company needs an annual statutory audit, whatever its size and whether or not it traded. Who is caught, the one genuine exemption, what actually drives the fee, how to prepare, and what happens if you skip it.
Setting Up a Hong Kong Company in 2026: The Real Costs, the Timeline, and Eight Beginner Mistakes
What incorporating actually costs in 2026 (government fees plus service fees), a realistic timeline, how to choose the right structure, and the eight mistakes first-timers make — each with its actual consequence and how to avoid it.
Hong Kong SME Tax Guide: Profits Tax, Salaries Tax and Property Tax
An owner actually meets three separate taxes: profits tax on the company, salaries tax on employees and on any salary you draw yourself, and property tax if you collect rent. When each applies, how each is calculated, the deadlines, and the six mistakes that come up most.
Limited Company, Sole Proprietorship or Partnership? What Actually Separates Them
The first decision when starting out in Hong Kong. How the three compare on liability, tax rates, setup and running costs, and compliance — why the tax rates are actually lower for a sole proprietorship, and what you should really be deciding on.
What Is a Company Secretary, and Why Must Every Hong Kong Company Have One?
The company secretary is a statutory office, not an administrative assistant. What Cap. 622 s.474 requires, the actual duties and deadlines, who is eligible, in-house versus outsourced, and what happens if the office sits vacant.
Changing Company Secretary: What to Prepare, How Long It Takes, and Whether Compliance Lapses
Switching company secretary does not need your outgoing provider's consent — a statutory notice to the Companies Registry does it. The four steps, the documents to get back, a realistic timeline, and the question everyone asks: does compliance go dark in between?
Setting Up a Hong Kong Company from Overseas: Fully Remote, No Visit Required
Directors and shareholders of a Hong Kong company have no nationality or residence requirement, so overseas founders can incorporate entirely remotely. The documents, the five steps, how long it really takes, the government fees, and the one step that may still need you in person: the bank account.
Cross-Border E-Commerce in Hong Kong: Tax, Banking, Bookkeeping and the Traps
A guide for Amazon, Shopify and marketplace sellers: what the offshore exemption really requires, multi-currency collection, what setting up costs and how long it takes, and the three places e-commerce books go wrong.
Keep the Books Yourself or Outsource? Run the Numbers With Your Own
Doing it yourself looks cheaper until you count the time and the cost of getting it wrong. A formula you can put your own figures into, four signs it is time to outsource, and the hybrid arrangement most SMEs actually end up with.
A New Company's First Tax Return: When It Arrives, What to Prepare, How the Deadline Works
A new company usually receives its first profits tax return about 18 months after incorporation, and the first filing period is longer than later ones. The timeline, why the first accounting period can exceed 12 months, what to prepare, and the one decision that most affects the cost.
Hong Kong Accounting Standards: The Four Things an SME Actually Needs to Know
Standards sound remote, but when revenue is recognised, how assets are depreciated, how inventory is valued and how bad debts are provided for all feed directly into your profit — and therefore your tax. The four decisions, from an SME's point of view.
Setting Up a Hong Kong Limited Company: Requirements, Process, Cost, Timing
Incorporating in Hong Kong is straightforward. What you take on afterwards is the real work. The five requirements, the six steps, the government fees, how long it actually takes, and the compliance a new company must handle in its first year.
Hong Kong Profits Tax: Rates, Basis Periods, Filing, and Three Common Misconceptions
Hong Kong taxes only profits sourced here, and the first HK$2 million is taxed at 8.25% for a company. The rates, how the basis period maps to the year of assessment, the filing process and deadlines, what is deductible, and the three things people most often get wrong.
Hong Kong or Singapore? A Practical Comparison Across Seven Dimensions
The real difference is not the tax rate: Singapore requires at least one local director and has GST, Hong Kong has neither. Setup cost, director requirements, tax, banking and market positioning compared.
Tech Startups in Hong Kong: Structuring It Right, What Support Exists, What to Avoid
For a tech startup, what matters long term is not the tax rate — it is the share structure you set on day one. What to leave room for in equity and options, who should own the IP, and how to make the R&D super-deduction actually usable.
The Two-Tiered Profits Tax Rates: Who Qualifies, and Why Connected Entities Get Only One
The first HK$2 million of assessable profits is taxed at half rate — worth up to HK$165,000 a year to a company. The rates, who qualifies, the connected-entity restriction, how to nominate, and why splitting companies to claim it twice does not work.
Foreigners Registering a Hong Kong Company: Requirements, Documents, Process and Pitfalls
Hong Kong places no restrictions on foreign ownership — a foreigner can own a Hong Kong company outright, directors need not be residents, and the whole registration can be done remotely. The actual requirements, document certification, how hard the bank account really is, and the tax points to watch.
Opening a Hong Kong Business Bank Account: How to Choose, What to Prepare, How to Improve Your Odds
Everyone can produce the company documents. What decides the outcome is proof of business — the bank has to understand what you sell, to whom, and where the money comes from. Choosing between digital and traditional banks, what to prepare, and the right move after a rejection.
What Does It Cost to Set Up a Hong Kong Company? Formation and Annual Costs, Line by Line
Government fees are fixed at USD 501 and identical wherever you go. Service fees are where providers differ — and the annual running cost is what most people underestimate. Every line item, which ones are compulsory, and five charges that tend to appear later.
Free guide
Start a Hong Kong Limited Company — The Complete Checklist
6 pages covering the 6-step setup process, what to prepare, cost breakdown, bank account opening, and your first-year compliance calendar. Enter your email to download the PDF.
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