Renewal completed for dormant HK company
Since 2003, Healy Consultants assists Clients with the annual renewal of their Hong Kong companies, including i) renewal of company secretary and legal registered office services ii) accounting and tax obligations and iii) Hong Kong independent statutory audit, if required.
This case involved a Client’s Hong Kong company, which was purchased from Healy Consultants Group as a turnkey in November 2018. The company is dormant, meaning that it is not required to undertake an annual audit of its financial statements. However, it is required to prepare and file an annual tax return with the HK Inland Revenue Department.
Engagement planning
- In June 2021, Healy Consultants Group’s Group Financial Controller Ms. Sharon emailed our Client a renewal invoice that included i) renewal of Hong Kong company secretary and legal registered office ii) renewal of Hong Kong government fees and iii) annual Hong Kong accounting and tax services.
- Our Client settled the renewal fees and Sharon emailed our Client with an updated paid invoice as proof that the renewal fees had been paid, and that our in-house Accounting and Tax Department (ATD) had already began the engagement.
- I was assigned to assist our Client to complete their Hong Kong company renewal and accounting and tax obligations. I sent my Client an initial e-mail with i) an overview of the engagement project plan ii) key milestones for the renewal engagement and iii) important Hong Kong government deadlines related to company renewal and accounting and tax obligations.
- To enable the preparation of the tax return, I requested the Client to confirm in writing that the entity was dormant during the financial period in question. For active Hong Kong companies, our Clients must submit i) trial balance ii) bank statements and iii) supporting documents such as invoices, service agreements etc.
Hong Kong accounting and tax obligations
- Within three weeks of receiving the requested documents from our Client, and confirmation from them that the company is dormant, I prepared and sent the draft financial statement and tax computation to our Client for review and approval.
- Once the financial statement draft was approved by the Client, I then sent the final version to our Client via HelloSign for e-signatures.
- Subsequently, I completed the Hong Kong IRD profit tax return (PTR) forms and submitted them to IRD.
- I submitted the annual return to Hong Kong Companies Registry and renewed the business registration license with the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department before the deadlines.
Engagement completion
- I sent our Client a confirmation of engagement completion together with a summary of obligations, which includes proof of statutory filings for our Client’s records.
- Healy Consultant’s Business Website Department then requested a professional reference from our Client.
