The annual cost of running a Hong Kong company comes down to three things: the annual return, the business registration renewal, and the audit and tax filing. They fall due at different times, and missing any of them triggers extra fees — or, in the worst case, prosecution.
1. Annual return (NAR1). File with the Companies Registry within 42 days of the incorporation anniversary. On time the registration fee is HKD 105; late filing is charged on a scale: HKD 870 for 42 days to 3 months, HKD 1,740 for 3 to 6 months, HKD 2,610 for 6 to 9 months, and HKD 3,480 beyond 9 months. This is the item most often forgotten and most often penalised.
2. Business Registration Certificate (BR). The Inland Revenue Department mails a renewal notice about a month before expiry; pay it and the renewal is done. The notice goes to the registered address — if you moved and did not update it, you will not receive it, so address changes must be notified within 15 days.
3. Audit and profits tax return. A newly incorporated company usually receives its first return about 18 months after incorporation, then annually. Hong Kong taxes on a territorial basis, so offshore profits can be exempted, but a Hong Kong practising accountant must issue the audit report. You cannot simply file a nil return yourself.
4. The things people forget. Any change of shareholder, director, registered address or company secretary must be filed within 15 days. The Significant Controllers Register (SCR) must be kept at the registered address or a designated place for inspection. If you employ staff, there is also MPF and the employer’s return.
5. How to stay on top of it. Build an annual compliance calendar anchored on the incorporation date: anniversary +42 days (NAR1), one month before BR expiry (renewal), within three months of financial year end (audit fieldwork). Write down an owner and a deadline for each — far more reliable than memory.
Our secretarial service is essentially that calendar, watched on your behalf, with the paperwork ready before each deadline. The fee is fixed; the penalties are avoidable. The gap between the two is usually what the service is worth.