Hong Kong company formation in 1 to 4 working days
We register your Hong Kong company remotely and arrange its secretary and registered office. State fees: HK$1,545 to the Registry, HK$2,350 for a year of business registration.
Business registration
HK$2,350
Registration for 1 year, and HK$1,545 to the Registry
- Profits tax of 8.25% on the first HK$2 million
- Registered in 1 to 4 working days
- Company secretary and registered office arranged
HK$6,170
Registration for 3 years, and HK$1,545 to the Registry
- Profits tax of 8.25% on the first HK$2 million
- Registered in 1 to 4 working days
- Company secretary and registered office arranged
Our fee, with the company secretary and the registered office, is fixed in your quote.
See every state fee
What a Hong Kong private limited company is and who can own it
You form and run the company online, in one account on the Legarithm platform.
Formed from abroad by one person
A founder who lives abroad forms a Hong Kong company without travelling there. The usual form is the private company limited by shares. A shareholder's liability stops at the amount unpaid on the shares. One shareholder and one director are enough, the same person can be both, and neither needs a Hong Kong address or passport.
Private, with up to 50 members
The articles of a private company restrict the transfer of shares, cap the members at 50 and bar any offer of shares to the public. At least one director is a natural person. A company can hold the shares and, outside a listed group, sit on the board beside that director.
What the public register shows
The public register shows a correspondence address and a partial identification number for each director. Home addresses and full passport numbers stay with the Registry. The significant controllers register is not part of it: the company keeps that register itself.
The Companies Ordinance sets no minimum paid-up capital, and shares have carried no nominal value since 3 March 2014: the founders choose the amount.
Who sets up a company in Hong Kong
A trading company buys from suppliers in mainland China and across Asia and invoices buyers worldwide in the currency of each deal.
An e-commerce operator sells to customers in many countries from one company and collects the payments in their currencies.
A consultant or an agency invoices clients abroad through a company with limited liability and audited accounts to show each year.
A holding company owns the shares of the group's subsidiaries in Asia and the rights to its brands. A gain on shares held as a capital asset is not taxed.
Hong Kong profits tax calculator
The two-tiered rates of a corporation: 8.25% on the first HK$2 million and 16.5% above.
- Profits tax for the year
- HK$330,000
- Share of the profit
- 11%
Hong Kong profits tax calculator: the two-tiered rates of a corporation.
What clients write about Legarithm
4.8 on Google from 26 reviews.
What Hong Kong company registration costs
The state fees are today's published rates. The business registration amounts, paid to the tax department, hold for filings made by 31 March 2027. Our fee, with the company secretary and the registered office, is fixed in your quote. A full year of the company, the books and the audit included, is priced line by line on company services in Hong Kong.
Company formation in Hong Kong, our fee
Fixed in your quoteYou get the figure in writing by the end of the next working day.
Get a quote- Companies Registry fee, online filing
- HK$1,545
- Companies Registry fee, paper filing
- HK$1,720
- Business registration fee and levy, 1 year
- HK$2,350
- Business registration fee and levy, 3 years
- HK$6,170
- Company secretary and registered office, a year
- in your quote
- Annual return to the Registry, each year
- HK$105
- Accounting, audit and tax return
- in your quote
How to register a company in Hong Kong: five steps
With your signed documents in hand, registration takes 1 to 4 working days.
- day 11
Name and activity
We search the Registry's index of names and the trade mark register, and check your activity against the Trade and Industry Department's list of licences. The name is English, Chinese or both, and an English name ends with Limited.
- day 1 to 22
Identity checks
You upload a passport and a proof of address for each owner and director. Hong Kong's anti-money-laundering ordinance asks for these checks before a company is formed.
- day 23
Forms and articles
We draft the incorporation form NNC1, the articles of association and the notice to the Business Registration Office, form IRBR1. You sign.
- 1 hour after filing4
Filing and certificates
We file all three with both state fees. The Registry normally issues the certificate of incorporation and the business registration certificate within 1 hour of an online filing, or within 4 working days of a paper one.
- week 15
Registers, bank and books
We open the statutory registers and prepare your bank file. Within 1 month of starting business we report the nature and address of the business to the Business Registration Office. Then the books begin: accounting in Hong Kong.
Company secretary, registered office and significant controllers register in Hong Kong
Company law ties every Hong Kong company to Hong Kong at 3 points. Each is arranged as part of our service.
Company secretary
- A change is reported
- Within 15 days form ND2A
- What the Companies Ordinance asks
- A person who ordinarily lives in Hong Kong, or a company with its registered office or a place of business there. A sole director cannot also be the secretary.
Registered office
- A change is reported
- Within 15 days form NR1
- What the Companies Ordinance asks
- An address in Hong Kong for all notices to the company.
Significant controllers register
- A change is reported
- Within 15 days of keeping it away from the registered office, form NR2
- What the Companies Ordinance asks
- Everyone who holds above 25% of the shares or votes, appoints most of the board or otherwise controls the company.
9 bodiesMay inspect the significant controllers register
The significant controllers register stays in Hong Kong and is not filed with the Registry. It is open on demand to 9 law enforcement bodies, the police and the Inland Revenue Department among them. The company names a designated representative to assist them: a resident shareholder, director or employee, an accountant, a lawyer or a licensed company service provider.
3 yearsA licence for the secretary and the office
A firm that acts as secretary or lends a registered office as its business holds a licence from the Registrar of Companies, valid for 3 years.
A company without a significant controllers register faces a fine of up to HK$25,000 and HK$700 for each further day.
Documents for Hong Kong company incorporation
Documents
Each shareholder, director and beneficial owner
- Copy of a valid passport
- Proof of home address from the last 3 months
- Short description of the planned business
- Source of funds confirmation
A company as shareholder
- Certificate of incorporation and a current register extract
- Articles or other constitutional documents
- Registers of directors and shareholders
- Ownership chart up to the beneficial owners
- Board resolution to form the Hong Kong company
- Apostille or legalisation, by country of origin
You send them in your account. We check each document the day it arrives and tell you what is missing.
See the platformBank account or payment account for a Hong Kong company
What a bank asks for
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's list: certificate of incorporation, Registry report, articles, the owners and the ownership chart, the purpose of the account, the expected activity and the nature of the business. The Authority tells banks not to make a large first deposit a condition.
What we prepare
We build that file from your registration documents, add the contracts or invoices that show the business, and introduce the company to a bank. The bank's questions reach you in your account, and we draft the answers with you.
A payment account as well
We also introduce the company to a payment institution, the route founders take for their first invoices and transfers while a bank reviews the file.
Hong Kong tax in figures: profits tax of 8.25% and 16.5%, no VAT
Hong Kong taxes a company on profit that arises in or is derived from Hong Kong.
| Tax | Rate | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Profits tax, first HK$2 million | 8.25% | One company among connected companies takes this tier |
| Profits tax, above HK$2 million | 16.5% | The normal rate for a corporation |
| VAT or sales tax | none | Nothing is added to an invoice |
| Capital gains | none | Profit on the sale of a capital asset is outside profits tax |
| Dividends and interest paid out | none | No tax on dividends and no withholding tax |
Profit of an offshore company outside Hong Kong
An offshore company in Hong Kong rests on the territorial principle: profit that arises outside Hong Kong is not taxed, even when it is remitted there. The Inland Revenue Department asks what the company did to earn the profit and where: for a trading profit, where the purchase and sale contracts were negotiated, concluded and carried out.
Foreign income of a group company
A company inside a multinational group follows one more rule since 1 January 2023. Dividends, interest, intellectual property income and disposal gains from abroad are taxed when received in Hong Kong, unless the company meets the Inland Revenue Department's substance, participation or nexus test.
The company makes the offshore claim in its profits tax return, with a schedule that explains the profit it leaves out.
What a Hong Kong company files every year
Each date sits in your account, with the name of the person who handles it.
| Yearly duty | When | State fee |
|---|---|---|
| Annual return, form NAR1 | Within 42 days of each anniversary of incorporation | HK$105 |
| Business registration renewal | Before the certificate runs out, every 1 or 3 years | HK$2,350 or HK$6,170 |
| Audited financial statements | Each financial year; the first ends within 18 months of incorporation | none |
| Profits tax return, form BIR51 | 1 month after its issue; the first comes about 18 months after incorporation | none |
| Employer's return, form BIR56A | 1 month after its issue each April | none |
A platform where you open
and run the company online
Your whole company is in your pocket. Sign documents, check the books and write to your accountant from your phone.
Your Company Limited
- Registration in progress
- Next deadline prepared
- Last month closed on time
- Passport copy Uploaded
- Proof of address Checked
- Company documents Sign
- Source of funds declaration Upload
You upload scans and sign the forms in the account. We keep the certificates and registers here afterwards, ready for a bank or an auditor.
The Legarithm team
We prepare your documents, check them before they are filed and keep your books.
Legal
Christina Agapiou Corporate Lawyer
Vasiliki Chatzigeorgiou Compliance Officer
Iryna Hrabovetska Associate
Anastasiia Kolomiiets Associate
Ivanna Plieshivtseva Junior Associate
Vladyslav Khamenushko Paralegal
Alisia Navrotska Paralegal
Vladyslav Syliava Paralegal
Finance and accounting
Ioannis Akritidis Accountant
Elizaveta Pytkina Accountant
Nataliia Dobrynina Accountant
Anna Kyrylova Finance specialist
Questions about Hong Kong company formation
Can a foreigner set up a company in Hong Kong?
Yes. A person of any nationality, living anywhere, can own 100% of the shares and serve as the only director. The company secretary and the registered office in Hong Kong are arranged as part of our service. Hong Kong and the other jurisdictions where we register companies stand side by side on international company formation.
How much does it cost to set up a company in Hong Kong?
The state fees for an online filing are HK$1,545 to the Companies Registry and HK$2,350 for one year of business registration. Our fee is in your quote.
Is Hong Kong tax-free for business?
No. A company pays profits tax of 8.25% on the first HK$2 million of profit and 16.5% above it. Profit earned outside Hong Kong is not taxed, and there is no VAT.
How do I form a company in Hong Kong?
You choose a name, the shareholders and the directors and send passports and proofs of address. We file the incorporation form, the articles and the business registration notice, and the certificates arrive in your account.
Do I need a local director in Hong Kong?
No. The Companies Ordinance asks for one director who is a natural person and sets no rule on residence. The local roles are the company secretary and the designated representative for the significant controllers register.
Does a Hong Kong company need an audit?
Yes, every year, unless the company is dormant. A certified public accountant (practising) audits the financial statements, and they go in with the profits tax return: accounting in Hong Kong.
Does a Hong Kong company give me the right to live there?
No, and you run it from abroad. A founder who moves applies to the Immigration Department for entry for investment as an entrepreneur. The Department normally decides in 4 weeks and grants a first stay of up to 36 months.
Get a quote for your company in Hong Kong
Book a 30-minute call about your company
Your consultant Vladyslav Babaiev Opens in a new tab Business Setup Specialist
- We email you the Google Meet link.
- 30 minutes, free, no obligation to order.
- After the call we email you the checklist of documents for your country.
We reply by the end of the next working day with the cost and the dates for your case. The first call is free and confidential.
Also for a company in Hong Kong
Accounting in Hong Kong
Books, the yearly audit and the profits tax return, with each filing date
OpenInternational company formation
How we open a company abroad, from the documents to the bank file
OpenOutsourced accounting services
Books, payroll and returns for a company owned from abroad
OpenThe Legarithm platform
Sign documents, follow each filing and read the books in one account
OpenGuides to a company in Hong Kong
Updated 19 October 2026. Reviewed by Vladyslav Drapii, Founder.
