Company Registration in Hong Kong for IT business
Experience is a comb that we get after becoming bald. (c) Chinese proverb
At the request of readers in the continuation of a series of publications on incorporation abroad (see previous articles on Belize and Estonia ) I want to talk about the registration of a company in Hong Kong.
We were faced with the next task - to register a company in Hong Kong for a client and open a bank account for the SaaS project in the same jurisdiction.
')
The legal system of Hong Kong is based on the norms of British law, which is certainly a plus (it's not hard for a lawyer to appreciate the advantages of this fact, in simple words: a convenient judicial system and the simplicity of concluding contracts).
Hong Kong is not an offshore from the point of view of the legislation of Ukraine and Belarus ,
From the point of view of the legislation of the Russian Federation - is.
A shareholder of a company can be both an individual and a legal entity. The minimum number is not set (it is logical that at least one).
Bearer shares are prohibited.
Share capital can be 1 dollar.
The minimum number of company directors has not been established, but at least one of them must be an individual.
Companies are required to keep financial statements and at the end of each financial year submit it to the auditor for review. (The price for audit and accounting with the number of transactions up to 300 per year is ~ 500 US $. But after registration, this procedure is carried out for the first time only after 18 months and costs about 1100 US $).
Geographically, reporting can be done anywhere, but it should be borne in mind that, upon the request of the Hong Kong tax, it may be required for verification.
Corporate tax rates (income tax) - 16.5% of the profit received in Hong Kong and 0% of the profit received for its territory.
It is better to explain in simple words. So, if you
- do not work in the domestic market,
- do not have customers \ buyers in Hong Kong,
- there is no real office and staff in Hong Kong
there is no need to pay tax.
It is necessary to have supporting documents for all transactions, since you will be obliged (through auditors) to prove that you can apply a 0% rate to your profit.
VAT is not provided.
The cost of registration (provided that the shareholder of the company is an individual) *
* Please note that prices are provided for informational purposes, as in the comments, someone will ask about it anyway. These are prices of a local (from Hong Kong) registrar (they may differ from the rates of other registrars).
Hong Kong Government fee 530 US $ (for incorporation and business license);
Incorporation fee US $ 59;
Registered address 150 US $ ($ 12.5 per month);
Agent / secretary - 75 US $ / 1year;
Annual Return and e-Certifcate: 50 US $ + 55 US $ (Includes govt. Fee of 25 US $);
Certified copy of Documents fee 125 US $ + 95 US $ (HSBC, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng documents certified by CPA);
Total: 1139 US $
Since citizens of Ukraine do not have the right to register companies in accordance with resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine without obtaining an individual license from the NBU, I advise you not to violate the law and draw up a deed of gift to the company. This is not a significant cost, but you will openly and legally own the company. Below is the calculation of the cost of registration of "gift":
Transfer of shares as a gift:
transfer of XXX share / s 280 US $
Preparing of the "Instrument of Transfer" - (not commencement of business, M & A, Statement on landed property) 95 US $
postal and handling fee 55 US $
Total: 430 US $
The registration process itself takes about 7 working days + delivery of original documents.
I do not throw out the link to the registrar in public access.
The main documents you get are
Incorporation form ;
Business registration ceertificate ;
Certificate of incorporation and other documents that can be viewed at this link .
Bank account
If you need a PayPal business account , then you need to open an account in Hong Kong (the PayPal requirement - the bank and the company must be located in the same jurisdiction, and the card issued by the bank must be Visa).
Below is a list of banks with which you can work:
- HSBC (the most popular bank, opening an account is free, and, by the way, you can open a merchant here);
- Hang Seng;
- Standard Charter;
- Bank of China;
- China Trust;
To open an account in Hong Kong, the personal presence of the beneficiary on the account is mandatory. As they say in China: “No rumor will replace meetings” (c) According to the list of documents, you can contact the bank manager, or ask the registrar (for a fee) to help you open an account.
If you don’t need PayPal, you can open an account outside Hong Kong. Jurisdiction can choose both European and any other of your choice.
APDATE (03/17/2015):
Several clients from Ukraine have closed accounts at HSBC, due to the unstable situation in the country. Unlock accounts do not intend to do, even with a personal presence.
You can open a European account now without problems, but in addition you need to pay 350-400 US dollars for the apostille of documents.
Summarizing: Hong Kong is a universal solution for different types of IT business, with the ability to open a PayPal business account and the option of withdrawing money to a Visa card. This is a good tool in tax planning your business.
Yes, you have to pay for maintenance and auditing, but this price is comparable to the price for maintaining a company in the CIS countries.
At the request of readers in the continuation of a series of publications on incorporation abroad (see previous articles on Belize and Estonia ) I want to talk about the registration of a company in Hong Kong.
We were faced with the next task - to register a company in Hong Kong for a client and open a bank account for the SaaS project in the same jurisdiction.
')
Jurisdiction Overview
The legal system of Hong Kong is based on the norms of British law, which is certainly a plus (it's not hard for a lawyer to appreciate the advantages of this fact, in simple words: a convenient judicial system and the simplicity of concluding contracts).
Hong Kong is not an offshore from the point of view of the legislation of Ukraine and Belarus ,
From the point of view of the legislation of the Russian Federation - is.
A shareholder of a company can be both an individual and a legal entity. The minimum number is not set (it is logical that at least one).
Bearer shares are prohibited.
Share capital can be 1 dollar.
The minimum number of company directors has not been established, but at least one of them must be an individual.
Companies are required to keep financial statements and at the end of each financial year submit it to the auditor for review. (The price for audit and accounting with the number of transactions up to 300 per year is ~ 500 US $. But after registration, this procedure is carried out for the first time only after 18 months and costs about 1100 US $).
Geographically, reporting can be done anywhere, but it should be borne in mind that, upon the request of the Hong Kong tax, it may be required for verification.
Corporate tax rates (income tax) - 16.5% of the profit received in Hong Kong and 0% of the profit received for its territory.
It is better to explain in simple words. So, if you
- do not work in the domestic market,
- do not have customers \ buyers in Hong Kong,
- there is no real office and staff in Hong Kong
there is no need to pay tax.
It is necessary to have supporting documents for all transactions, since you will be obliged (through auditors) to prove that you can apply a 0% rate to your profit.
VAT is not provided.
The cost of registration (provided that the shareholder of the company is an individual) *
* Please note that prices are provided for informational purposes, as in the comments, someone will ask about it anyway. These are prices of a local (from Hong Kong) registrar (they may differ from the rates of other registrars).
Hong Kong Government fee 530 US $ (for incorporation and business license);
Incorporation fee US $ 59;
Registered address 150 US $ ($ 12.5 per month);
Agent / secretary - 75 US $ / 1year;
Annual Return and e-Certifcate: 50 US $ + 55 US $ (Includes govt. Fee of 25 US $);
Certified copy of Documents fee 125 US $ + 95 US $ (HSBC, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng documents certified by CPA);
Total: 1139 US $
Since citizens of Ukraine do not have the right to register companies in accordance with resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine without obtaining an individual license from the NBU, I advise you not to violate the law and draw up a deed of gift to the company. This is not a significant cost, but you will openly and legally own the company. Below is the calculation of the cost of registration of "gift":
Transfer of shares as a gift:
transfer of XXX share / s 280 US $
Preparing of the "Instrument of Transfer" - (not commencement of business, M & A, Statement on landed property) 95 US $
postal and handling fee 55 US $
Total: 430 US $
The registration process itself takes about 7 working days + delivery of original documents.
I do not throw out the link to the registrar in public access.
The main documents you get are
Incorporation form ;
Business registration ceertificate ;
Certificate of incorporation and other documents that can be viewed at this link .
Bank account
If you need a PayPal business account , then you need to open an account in Hong Kong (the PayPal requirement - the bank and the company must be located in the same jurisdiction, and the card issued by the bank must be Visa).
Below is a list of banks with which you can work:
- HSBC (the most popular bank, opening an account is free, and, by the way, you can open a merchant here);
- Hang Seng;
- Standard Charter;
- Bank of China;
- China Trust;
To open an account in Hong Kong, the personal presence of the beneficiary on the account is mandatory. As they say in China: “No rumor will replace meetings” (c) According to the list of documents, you can contact the bank manager, or ask the registrar (for a fee) to help you open an account.
If you don’t need PayPal, you can open an account outside Hong Kong. Jurisdiction can choose both European and any other of your choice.
APDATE (03/17/2015):
Several clients from Ukraine have closed accounts at HSBC, due to the unstable situation in the country. Unlock accounts do not intend to do, even with a personal presence.
You can open a European account now without problems, but in addition you need to pay 350-400 US dollars for the apostille of documents.
Summarizing: Hong Kong is a universal solution for different types of IT business, with the ability to open a PayPal business account and the option of withdrawing money to a Visa card. This is a good tool in tax planning your business.
Yes, you have to pay for maintenance and auditing, but this price is comparable to the price for maintaining a company in the CIS countries.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/285722/
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