Being an Employer, the Hong Kong company has various statutory obligations with the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (“IRD”).

1.	The Employer must maintain payroll record for at least 7 years. The said record must contain the employees’ information as follows:

(1)	Personal particulars (name, address, marital status and Hong Kong identity card number or passport number with place of issuance)
(2)	Nature of employment (full-time or part-time)
(3)	Job designation
(4)	Amount of cash remuneration
(5)	Non-cash and fringe benefits
(6)	Employer’s and employee’s contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) or its equivalent
(7)	Employment contract and amendments to terms of employment
(8)	Period of employment

2.	Upon commencement of new employment, the Employer is required to notify IRD for such new employment by completing and filing the relevant form within 3 months from the date of commencement of employment.
3.	The Employer is required to report remunerations paid to employees by submitting the annual Employer’s Return during a relevant year of assessment. Please note that a year of assessment refers to the twelve-month period ending 31 March of the relevant period (i.e. the year of assessment 2019/20 covers the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020).

Employer’s Return are normally issued on the first working day of April each year and must be filed within one month from the date of its issuance.

The Employer is required to complete and file the annual Employer’s Return for the following persons who are still under employment as at 31 March of the relevant year:

(1)	Employees who are single and received an annual income of in excess of the Basic Allowance of the relevant year of assessment (HK$132,000 for the year of assessment 2019/20).
(2)	Directors, married persons and part-time employees irrespective of any amount paid to them.
(3)	Employees of any non-Hong Kong company who were assigned or seconded to the Hong Kong company for duties in or outside Hong Kong.
(4)	Persons to whom a pension was paid or accrued
(5)	Former employees or former directors who have realized gain by the exercise, assignment or release of any share option previously granted by the Hong Kong company or by any other corporation in respect of their former employment with the Hong Kong company.

4.	Upon cessation of employment, the Employer is also required to notify IRD for such cessation by completing and filing the relevant form not later 1 month before the cessation of employment.

Please note that for any employees based in Hong Kong and departing from Hong Kong for good or for a substantial period of time, the Employer is required to file a relevant form to notify IRD for such departure from Hong Kong. The relevant form must be filed not later than 1 month before departure from Hong Kong. Aside from that, the Employer is also required to withhold all moneys payable to that departing employee for a period of one month from the date of filing the notification or until IRD issues a “letter of release”, whichever is earlier.

5.	Although not in an employer-employee relationship, a Hong Kong company has additional obligations for payments made to persons other than an employee.

(1)	Local Persons – The Hong Kong company is required to file the relevant form to report payments made to the following local persons:
	•	sub-contracts which payment exceeds HK$200,000 per annum
	•	consultants, agents, brokers, freelance artists, entertainers, sportsmen, writers, freelance guides, etc. in excess of HK$25,000 per annum.
(2)	Non-resident entertainers/sportsmen – If the Hong Kong company made payments to non-resident entertainers/sportsmen for any performance in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong payer has to comply the following requirements:
	•	Notify IRD through filing the relevant form immediately when the non-resident arrives in Hong Kong; and
	•	Withhold any amount from payments made to the non-resident sufficient to produce the amount of tax due in accordance with sections 20A and 20B of the Inland Revenue Ordinance and inform IRD accordingly.

IRD may impose penalty or take legal action against employers who do not comply with the above obligations or making incorrect return.

Source：Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department’s website

- https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/ere.htm
- https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/ere_obl.htm
- https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/esem_er_56me.pdf
- https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/pam48e.pdf