Latest news with #eTAX
South China Morning Post
26-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
From salaries to side gigs and audits: how to navigate Hong Kong's tax system
The tax filing season in Hong Kong is in full swing, with June 2 marking the deadline for most individuals. Tax audits have come under scrutiny recently after at least 20 journalists raised concerns about 'unreasonable' reviews targeting them and their families. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Commissioner dismissed these claims, stressing that assessment procedures were applied uniformly and did not target specific industries or individuals based on their background. The Post provides a guide on what to pay attention to regarding filing requirements, with insights from taxation experts on the recent audit controversy. 1. How to file your tax return and what are the key deadlines? The government issued the Individual Tax Returns for 2024-25 on May 2, 2025, requiring taxpayers to report their salaries, rental income from solely owned properties and profits from sole-proprietorship businesses. The tax return must be filed within one month from the date of issue, or within three months if the taxpayer solely owned an unincorporated business during the year of assessment. An automatic extension of one month will be given for filing the tax return for the year electronically through a service called eTAX. An eTAX account holder can file their taxes online as long as they do not claim an exemption on their income, does not own any sole proprietorship business with gross income of more than HK$2,000,000, has not claimed double taxation relief, or has not obtained an advance tax ruling for that year.
RTHK
02-05-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Tax revenue expected to hit HK$401.4b this fiscal year
Tax revenue expected to hit HK$401.4b this fiscal year The Inland Revenue Department says salaries tax collections increased by 11 percent from the previous fiscal year. Photo: RTHK The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on Friday forecasted a seven percent rise in tax revenue for the current fiscal year, building on robust growth from the previous period. The department said it issued 2.66 million tax return forms, including 790,000 electronic returns and 1.87 million paper returns. The department said it expects tax revenue to reach HK$401.4 billion this fiscal year. Provisional figures indicated that the department collected HK$374.5 billion in the last financial year, marking an increase of HK$32.5 billion, or up 10 percent, compared to 2023-24. Notably, salaries tax collections increased by 11 percent from the previous fiscal year, amounting to roughly HK$9 billion. "The first [reason] increase in the accessible incomes, which brings more taxpayers into the tax net. Another reason is there was various talent schemes in Hong Kong, which also brings us more taxpayers," said Benjamin Chan, Commissioner of Inland Revenue. The commissioner urged people to file electronically, especially with the launch of three new interconnected portals under eTAX in July. "Under the individual tax portals, existing personal tax services provided under the e-tax platform will migrate to this portal with [a] new design and enhanced functions," Chan said. "Mobile apps will also be launched... allowing the individual taxpayers to use biometric login and the taxpayers can keep track of their e-communications with the IRD under this portal and also receive push notification for new messages under this portal." The business tax portal will serve corporations and partnerships, allowing them to manage their tax matters, submit returns, communicate with the IRD, file objections, apply for holdovers on provisional tax and electronically file employer's returns and stamp duty matters. Individuals must submit their forms by June 2, while sole proprietors have until August 2. Those filing electronically will be given a one-month submission deadline extension.
