Introducing the Orbitax International Tax Platform, a revolutionary suite of integrated tax solutions including research, compliance, calculations, entity management and charting. Find out more.

News Share

The Tax Hub

Daily Tax Newsletter

Share this Page

Hong Kong

Budget for 2008/09

The Budget for the financial year 2008/09 was presented by the Financial Secretary on 27 February 2008. Unless stated otherwise, the Budget proposals, when passed, will take effect on 1 April 2008. Details of the budgetary proposals affecting taxation are summarized below:

Special tax relief for period 2007/08

A one-off reduction of 75% of the 2007/08 final tax liability in respect of salaries tax, profits tax, property tax and tax under personal assessment is proposed. The reduction is subject to a ceiling of HKD 25,000. By way of example, for a person whose final tax liability for the financial year 2007/08 is HKD 50,000, the reduction would be HKD 37,500, however it is restricted to a ceiling of HKD 25,000 thus leaving a balance of HKD 25,000 to be paid as tax.

Corporate tax

The following changes have been proposed with regard to the corporate tax regime:

-		the standard tax rate and profit tax rate are to be reduced from 16% to 15% and 17.5% to 16.5%, respectively;
-		the deduction ceiling for approved charitable donations will be raised from 25% to 35% of adjusted assessable income; and
-		capital expenditure deduction on specific environmental protection facilities, such as machinery or plant, is to be provided with a 100% capital expenditure deduction. Installations forming part of a building or structure are to be provided with a 20% deduction per annum over 5 consecutive years.

Other taxes

Other proposals announced in the Budget are as follows:

-		the business registration fee of HKD 2,000 and HKD 73 for business registration certificates and branch registration, respectively, is to be waived for the year 2008/09; and
-		the Hotel Accommodation Tax is to be reduced from 3% to 0%.

Powerful Tax Tools

NEW

FX Rates

Global FX Rates including Tax Year Average FX Rates and Spot Rates for all Reporting Currencies.

NEW

Corporate Tax Rates

Corporate tax rates, surtaxes, and effective tax rates for the current year, as well as historical rates and approved future rates.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Country Analysis

Detailed tax guidance for companies doing business in over 100 countries, including summaries and snapshots of key tax facts and issues.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Cross Border Tax Calculator

Calculate total tax costs and benefits of a cross border transaction including withholding tax, participation exemption and foreign tax credit rules.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Cross Border Tax Rates

Provides Domestic, treaty and EU cross border tax rates for over 5,000 country combinations for 9 different payment streams.

NEW

OECD BEPS Project

Complete overview of the OECD BEPS Project, including daily BEPS news, country adoption of BEPS measures, and an overview of the 15 BEPS Actions.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Tax Calendar

Customizable calendar tool that tracks corporate income tax, value added tax and transfer pricing obligations by country or entity.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Tax Forms

English translations of key tax forms for over 80 countries, including tax return forms, treaty benefit forms, withholding tax forms, and more.

NEW

Worldwide Tax Treaties

Repository including thousands of tax treaties (in English), OECD, UN and US Models, relevant EU Directives, Technical Explanations, and more.

NEW

Worldwide Tax Planner

Calculates the worldwide tax cost of what-if scenarios based on legal entity structure, taxable income, and cross border transactions.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Certified Rates Report

Customizable Certified Rates Report providing updated corporate and withholding tax rates at the end of each month for over 100 countries.

ITRCE
Video

NEW

Withholding Tax Minimizer

Enables quick calculation of tax costs and benefits of cross border transactions considering all possible transaction combinations and optimal routes.