Employer returns for 2025-26 issued to Hong Kong employers on 1 April 2026

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• In-scope multinational enterprise groups subject to the global minimum tax regime are now required to file profits tax returns electronically.
• Taxpayers and employers are generally required to file their returns within one month from the date of issue.
• Employers can use the IRD’s tools to prepare and submit all types of IR56 Forms online.

Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD) issued approximately 270,000 profits tax returns, 120,000 property tax returns, and 340,000 employer’s returns for the year of assessment 2025-26 on 1 April 2026.

About 2.77mn tax returns for individuals will also be issued on 4 May.

The IRD reminded taxpayers and employers that returns must generally be filed within one month from the date of issue. For cases where tax representatives have been appointed, the filing deadlines are set out in the Block Extension Letter published on the IRD’s website.

Taxpayers are encouraged to file their tax returns through eTAX. Individual users may log in and sign their tax returns using ‘iAM Smart’ (signing is only applicable to account holders with the digital signing function enabled). The eTAX mobile application is also available for handling individual tax matters on mobile devices.

Employers, on the other hand, may use IRD’s IR56 Forms Preparation Tool to prepare and submit all types of IR56 Forms, i.e. Forms IR56B/E/F/G/M, electronically when filing employer’s returns. The tool is web‑based and does not require installation.

For profits tax, the first phase of mandatory electronic filing came into effect on 1 April 2026. Relevant entities of in-scope multinational enterprise groups subject to the global minimum tax regime are now required to file profit tax returns electronically from the year of assessment 2025-26 onwards.

Profit tax payers are also encouraged to file tax returns electronically together with supporting documents, including financial statements and tax computations, in inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) format. To facilitate this, the IRD provides the IRD Taxonomy Package (the Taxonomy) and the IRD iXBRL Data Preparation Tools (the Tools) to help taxpayers prepare the required iXBRL data files.

The IRD has also reminded taxpayers and employers submitting returns by post to pay sufficient postage to ensure timely delivery. Underpaid mail items will not be accepted by the IRD. Failure to lodge returns by the due date or extended deadline may result in penalties or even prosecution.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan proposed in the 2026-27 Budget a one off 100% reduction of salaries tax, tax under personal assessment, and profits tax for the year of assessment 2025/26, subject to a cap of HK$3,000 per case. Once approved, the reduction will be reflected in taxpayers' final tax payable for the year of assessment 2025/26, and is expected to benefit approximately 22.12mn individual taxpayers and 170,800 corporations and unincorporated businesses. The relevant bill has been submitted to the Legislative Council for approval.

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