Tax in Hong Kong: company tax, capital gains
Hong Kong has no broad GST or VAT — most goods and services are not taxed this way. That position is verified against Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau on 19 August 2026; the headline company tax rate is 16.5% (OECD Corporate Tax Statistics).
Consumption tax in Hong Kong
No broad consumption tax applies.
- Filing
- Quarterly / Monthly / Annual
- Authority
- Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
- Current rate since
- 1 January 2000
Introduced n/a — Hong Kong has never had a general consumption tax
Hong Kong came closer than most low-tax jurisdictions to adopting a consumption tax and then stopped. The government opened a nine-month public consultation on a 5% Goods and Services Tax on 19 July 2006, arguing that the territory's tax base was too narrow. The debate went badly, and the plan was dropped on 5 December 2006 — less than five months into the nine — and has never been formally revisited.
What it replaced: n/a — nothing was replaced, because no broad-based GST or VAT has ever taken effect in Hong Kong.
Company tax in Hong Kong
The headline corporate income tax rate is 16.5%. In effect since 1 January 2026.
Indicative only: confirm with Hong Kong (China)'s national tax authority. OECD 2026: central statutory CIT 16.5%, combined (central+sub-central) 16.5%
Capital gains tax in Hong Kong
- Shares
- Not taxed (no capital gains tax); profits are chargeable to profits tax only if the sale is part of a trade/business or profit-making scheme
- Property
- Not taxed (no capital gains tax) unless the sale is part of a profit-making scheme (then profits tax as business income)
- Holding period
- None
Did you know? Hong Kong tax facts
Hong Kong once put a 5% GST out for a nine-month public consultation — then abandoned it after less than five, before the consultation had even finished.
The consultation opened on 19 July 2006 and the plan was dropped on 5 December 2006. Financial Secretary Henry Tang's explanation was simply that the argument had not been won: it was clear, he said, that the government had not been able to convince the majority to accept a GST as the main option for the tax-base problem.
Source: Wikipedia — Goods and services tax (Hong Kong) ↗Hong Kong taxes by source, not residence: only income arising in or derived from Hong Kong is taxed, salaries tax runs from 2% to 17%, and capital gains fall outside profits tax altogether.
Wikipedia: 'Hong Kong uses only the territorial source jurisdiction and disregards the concept of residence'; 'Taxable income above 200,000 Hong Kong dollars is subjected to an income tax rate of 17%'; capital gains fall outside Profits Tax, though whether a particular gain is capital in nature can be debatable; 'No turnover tax (e.g. Value-Added Tax and Goods and Services Tax) has been imposed in Hong Kong.'
Source: Wikipedia — Taxation in Hong Kong · checked 10 October 2026 ↗
More stories, for every country that has one, on the tax facts page.
Ask your AI assistant about tax in Hong Kong
The figures on this page are callable by any MCP-compatible assistant through the free Tax MCP. Add https://taxmcp.ai2fin.com as a custom connector in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own agent — no login, no API key — then ask:
- “Does Hong Kong charge VAT or GST, and what is the source?”
- “Compare the tax position of Hong Kong with Singapore and Ireland.”
- “What is the company tax rate in Hong Kong and how is it sourced?”
Connect in three steps, and what a connected answer looks like: Tax MCP.
Hong Kong, answered
Questions about tax in Hong Kong
- Does Hong Kong have VAT or GST?
- Hong Kong has no broad GST or VAT — most goods and services are not taxed this way. That position is verified against Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau on 19 August 2026. No broad consumption tax applies.
- What is the company tax rate in Hong Kong?
- The headline corporate income tax rate in Hong Kong is 16.5%, as published by OECD Corporate Tax Statistics (checked 6 October 2026, verification pending). Indicative only: confirm with Hong Kong (China)'s national tax authority. OECD 2026: central statutory CIT 16.5%, combined (central+sub-central) 16.5%
- How is capital gains tax charged in Hong Kong?
- In Hong Kong, individuals generally pay no tax on gains, trading aside, verified against Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Hong Kong on 6 October 2026. On shares: Not taxed (no capital gains tax); profits are chargeable to profits tax only if the sale is part of a trade/business or profit-making scheme Holding period: None
- Can an AI assistant look up tax rates for Hong Kong?
- Yes. The free Tax MCP at https://taxmcp.ai2fin.com gives Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP-compatible agent the same sourced figures as this page: the consumption-tax position, the company tax rate, the capital gains rule and a side-by-side comparison with other countries, each answer citing the authority and the date it was checked. Add the endpoint as a custom connector; there is no login or API key.
- How current is the Hong Kong tax information on this page?
- Every figure on this page carries the date it was last checked against its source; the most recent check is 10 October 2026. The consumption-tax rate comes from a maintained rate ledger cross-checked against Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, and each income, company and capital-gains figure has its own source and date. A figure that has not yet been verified against a linked official source says so instead of claiming a tick. General information computed from published government rates, not tax advice. Check the linked authority or a registered adviser before relying on a figure.
Sources
- Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
- OECD Corporate Tax Statistics
- Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Hong Kong
- Wikipedia — Goods and services tax (Hong Kong)
- Wikipedia — Taxation in Hong Kong
Last checked 10 October 2026. General information computed from published government rates, not tax advice. Check the linked authority or a registered adviser before relying on a figure.
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