Services / Santo Accountancy / Accounting
Accounting, and the dates that matter
Books kept properly through the year make everything after them — the audit, the tax return, the questions from the bank — shorter and cheaper. Below is what the work covers, and the filing calendar a Hong Kong company lives by.
What is included
- Bookkeeping from your bank statements, sales invoices and purchase receipts.
- Management accounts, monthly or quarterly, if you want to see the numbers during the year.
- Year-end accounts and supporting schedules, ready for the auditor.
- Payroll records, the Employer's Return and the forms for staff joining and leaving.
- A list, before each deadline, of what is still needed from you.
What we need from you
- Bank statements for every account, for the whole year.
- Sales invoices and purchase receipts, in any order — sorting them is our job.
- Payroll details and MPF statements, if you employ anyone.
- Anything unusual: a loan, a large purchase, money moved between you and the company.
How long it takes
It depends on the volume and on how complete the records are when they arrive. We agree a timetable at the start, working back from your filing date, so that nothing is done in the last week.
Filing deadlines
The Hong Kong compliance year for a limited company and the people who own it. This is a general guide: the Inland Revenue Department sets the exact dates each year, and some depend on your own year end and incorporation date. Tell us yours and we will give you your own calendar.
Every year
- AprilProfits Tax Return and Employer's Return issuedBoth are issued on the first working day of April. The Employer's Return, with a form for each employee, is due within one month.BIR51 · BIR52 · BIR56A · IR56B
- MayIndividual Tax Return issuedIssued on the first working day of May and due within one month — three months if you run a sole-proprietorship business.BIR60
- MayProfits Tax Return due — year ends April to NovemberThe "N" code. Due one month after issue, in early May; the block extension for tax representatives does not move it.Year-end code N
- AugustProfits Tax Return due — December year endsThe "D" code. Extended to mid-August under the Inland Revenue Department's block extension scheme when filed by a tax representative.Year-end code D
- NovemberProfits Tax Return due — January to March year endsThe "M" code. Extended to mid-November under the block extension scheme; companies with a loss for the year may be extended further, to the end of January.Year-end code M
Tied to your own dates
- 42 daysAnnual Return to the Companies RegistryWithin 42 days after each anniversary of the company's incorporation. The registration fee rises the later it is filed.NAR1
- 9 monthsAnnual general meeting and audited accountsA private company holds its AGM — or passes the written resolution that replaces it — and lays the audited accounts within nine months after its financial year end.
- 10thMPF contributionsEmployer and employee contributions for each month are paid to the scheme by the 10th of the following month. New employees are enrolled within their first 60 days.
- NoticeTax payments, including provisional taxDue on the dates printed on each notice of assessment. Provisional tax is usually split into two instalments.
- ExpiryBusiness Registration renewalThe certificate runs for one or three years and must be renewed before it expires. The renewal notice usually arrives about a month ahead.
- StaffEmployees joining and leavingTell the Inland Revenue Department within three months of taking someone on, and one month before they leave — with a separate form, and money withheld, if they are leaving Hong Kong.IR56E · IR56F · IR56G
If you have a question about a filing, a deadline or a company, write to me. I answer my own email.