Many mainland friends who have obtained Hong Kong status or permanent residence find that they are still required by the mainland tax authorities to pay tax and are baffled.

The problem often lies in a key perception: holding a Hong Kong identity is not the same as being a “Hong Kong tax resident”. The difference between the two words is a world of difference in terms of rights and obligations.

Enterprise Finance GroupWe specialize in providing one-stop business start-up services for enterprises and individuals, covering Hong Kong identity application, renewal and permanent residence, as well as Hong Kong company registration, bookkeeping and tax preparation. Whether you need to plan your Hong Kong identity or want to sort out tax issues, we can provide professional support. Feel free to contact us (Tel: 16620947137, WeChat: Qicaiyingjituan).

I. Clarify Hong Kong Tax Resident Status and Hong Kong (Permanent Resident) Status

Holding Hong Kong Resident or Permanent Resident status represents your “residence status” in Hong Kong, while whether you are a Hong Kong tax resident determines your “tax liability”. Even a foreigner who does not have Hong Kong status may be recognized as a Hong Kong tax resident because he or she has lived and worked in Hong Kong for a long period of time.

✅ Hong Kong resident status (non-permanent resident)

This type of status is usually obtained through schemes such as Meritocracy, Expertise, IANG, and Immigrant Investor Program. Applicants are required to fulfill the requirements of age, academic qualifications, skills and contribution to Hong Kong. Holders of non-permanent residence identity cards can reside, work, study and enjoy public services in Hong Kong, but they need to renew their identity cards on time and prolonged absence from Hong Kong may lead to invalidation of their eligibility.

✅ Hong Kong permanent resident status

According to the Immigration Ordinance, one can obtain the permanent right of abode in Hong Kong and apply for a permanent identity card if one of the following conditions is met:

① 7 years of continuous legal residence in Hong Kong;
② Be the spouse or child of a Hong Kong permanent resident (subject to certain conditions);
③ Through other statutory channels (e.g. Hong Kong birth, naturalization).

The permanent residence status is more stable: no need to renew the visa, free to leave and enter the country, the right to vote and be elected, and more comprehensive rights and benefits in healthcare, education and retirement. It is worth noting that permanent residence is not mandatory to cancel the Mainland household registration unless the individual takes the initiative to apply for it.

✅ Hong Kong Tax Resident Certificate

This status is proved by a key document - the Certificate of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Resident Status, issued by the Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong to certify that you meet the definition of a Hong Kong tax resident for a particular year of assessment.

It is like a “tax pass”, the main function of which is to help individuals or enterprises to prove their identity to other tax jurisdictions, such as the Mainland, so as to enjoy the benefits of the Arrangement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income (DTPA) agreement.

In terms of rights and benefits, Hong Kong tax residents are only required to pay tax on Hong Kong-sourced income (no worldwide tax), with a maximum individual income tax rate of 171 TP3T and a corporate profits tax rate of 8.251 TP3T on the first $2 million of profits, and can enjoy the double taxation avoidance arrangements (CDTAs) that Hong Kong has entered into with more than 50 countries/territories.

In terms of obligations, Hong Kong tax residents are required to declare their taxable income, keep tax records, cooperate with tax audits in accordance with the law, and submit tax returns on time even if their income is below the exemption limit.

💡 Get to the point.: The Hong Kong resident status and the Hong Kong permanent resident status both focus on the “qualification of residence” and address the issue of “whether one can legally live and work in Hong Kong”, and their determination is related to one's intention to reside in Hong Kong and contribution to Hong Kong, and is not directly related to one's tax liabilities.

On the other hand, Hong Kong Tax Resident status clarifies the attribution of tax liabilities and solves the problem of “what tax should be paid to Hong Kong”, and the core of the determination lies in the “substance of residence” and “economic connection”, rather than the type of residence document held. The core of the determination lies in the "substance of residence" and "economic connection" rather than the type of residence document held.

💥 Note: Holders of Hong Kong Permanent Resident Identity Cards who have lived in the Mainland for a long period of time and have their economic center of gravity in the Mainland may still be considered as non-Hong Kong tax residents; on the contrary, expatriates who have resided in Hong Kong with a work visa for 183 days and have their center of gravity in Hong Kong may be considered as Hong Kong tax residents.

II. How to apply for Hong Kong tax resident status (individual/company)?

Hong Kong tax resident status is usually not “applied for”, but is automatically determined by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) when filing tax returns. If the applicant needs to enjoy tax treaty benefits or to prove his/her tax status, he/she can take the initiative to apply to the Inland Revenue Department for the issuance of a Certificate of Tax Resident status. The determination criteria for individuals and companies are different.

01. Determination of individual tax resident status

The “two-step determination method” is used: it is sufficient to meet one of the status conditions and one of the residence conditions.

✅ Status conditions:: Including Hong Kong permanent residents, non-permanent residents holding Hong Kong identity cards, and expatriates without Hong Kong status who have habitual residence in Hong Kong.

✅ living conditions::
① “ordinarily resident”: means having one's own home or a family member's home in Hong Kong and having one's center of gravity of life in Hong Kong, taking into account factors such as intention to reside, continuity, family social ties, economic connections, and so on;
② “183-day rule”: means staying in Hong Kong for more than 183 days in one year of assessment (from April 1 to March 31 of the following year), or staying for an aggregate of more than 300 days in two consecutive years of assessment (the day of entry and departure are both counted as days).

📚 noteIn 2026, the IRD adjusted the “183-day rule” in the individual tax residency requirement, so that even if the applicant meets the day requirement, he/she will not necessarily be recognized as a Hong Kong tax resident. The new rule has weakened the “number of days requirement” and put more emphasis on the applicant's family, economic center of gravity and other substantive factors (i.e. the “Gabi Principle”).

02. Determination of corporate tax residency status

Adoption of a dual-track system of “domicile standards” and “management control standards”:

✅ Registered Business in Hong KongThey must be operating in Hong Kong on a continuous and substantial basis, with fixed office premises, employing local staff and generating real business income and expenditure, and must not be operating as a shell.

✅ Overseas Registered EnterprisesIt is necessary to prove that its actual management and control center is in Hong Kong, i.e. the board of directors' meetings are mainly held in Hong Kong, operational decisions are made in Hong Kong, and it has substantive business activities in Hong Kong (e.g. market development, customer maintenance, financial management, etc.), rather than merely having a nominal office in Hong Kong.

For business owners who plan to set up a company in Hong Kong and apply for tax resident statusIt is recommended to plan the company structure and business model in advance.Enterprise Finance GroupWe specialize in providing one-stop corporate services such as Hong Kong company registration, annual audit, bookkeeping and tax filing, tax compliance, bank account opening, ODI filing/FDI filing, etc. We can help your company to meet the requirement of “substantial operation” from the very beginning of its establishment, and lay a solid foundation for the subsequent application for tax resident status.

03. Hong Kong Tax Resident Application Process

Both individuals and companies applying to become Hong Kong tax residents need to prepare relevant documents to prove that they meet the recognition criteria before submitting their applications.

01 Preparation of materials
👨‍💼 persons: Identity documents (ID card, passport, etc.), proof of address, employment contract or proof of employment, etc;
🏠 firms: Business registration forms, proof of office address, annual audit reports, proof of beneficial ownership and address, proof of business, tax payment records, employee information, etc.

02 Completion of the application form
Individual applicants are required to fill in the Application Form for Certificate of Resident Status, while companies or other entities are required to fill in the corresponding form.

03 Submission of applications
Submit the completed application form and relevant documents to the Tax Treaty Section of the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department.

04 Information Review
The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will confirm the eligibility of the information within 21 working days and may request additional documents.

05 Issuance of certificates
Upon approval, the Inland Revenue Department will issue a Certificate of Hong Kong Tax Resident Status.

III. Changes to the Criteria for Recognizing Individuals as Hong Kong Tax Residents in 2026

On December 22, 2025, the Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong (IRD) made an important update to the explanatory notes of the “Arrangement between the Mainland of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income” (the Comprehensive Arrangement) on the official website of IRD. The core of this amendment is the systematization of the rules for determining individuals who are tax residents of the two jurisdictions at the same time, releasing a clear signal of a shift from “formal review” to “substantive judgment”.

Q: How to resolve the issue of dual residency if an individual is recognized as a resident of both Hong Kong and the Mainland under the “Comprehensive Arrangement”? (Updated)

Answer: In order to address the issue of dual residency, the Comprehensive Arrangement adopts the criteria of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) model, whereby residency status will be determined according to the following rules in sequence (i.e., the “Gabi rule”):

:: The party in which he has his permanent residence;
:: The party with whom he has closer personal and economic ties (i.e., the “center of vital interests”);
:: Which side he habitually resides on;
:: Settlement by agreement between the competent authorities of both parties.

Regarding the specific interpretation of the “Gabi Rule”, reference can be made to the Circular on “Interpretation of the Provisions of the Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Singapore for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and the Protocols Thereto” (Guoshuifa [2010] No. 75), which is also applicable to the "Comprehensive Arrangement". Comprehensive Arrangement".

Under the “comprehensive arrangement”, the definition of individual residents would have included two categories:
1️⃣ is an individual “ordinarily resident in Hong Kong”;
2️⃣ is an individual who stays in Hong Kong for more than 180 days in a year of assessment or more than 300 days in two consecutive years of assessment.

Holding a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card is not automatically equivalent to being a Hong Kong resident for tax purposes.

The update focuses on strengthening the practical interpretation of the concept of “ordinary residence” and the “Gabi rule” for resolving conflicts of dual residency. When a person is considered to be a resident of both places under the laws of both places, the final attribution will be determined in the following order:

✅ Location of permanent residence;
✅ Location of individuals with closer ties to the economy (center of vital interests);
✅ Location of habitual residence;
✅ To be settled by agreement between the competent authorities of both parties.

summarizeThe core change in the determination of tax residency status is the shift from “days counting” to “substantive judgment”. If a Hong Kong identity card holder stays in Hong Kong for more than 180 days, but his or her “center of gravity”, such as family, major assets, children's education, social relations, etc., is still in the Mainland, the likelihood that he or she will be determined to be a tax resident of the Mainland will be greatly increased.

IV. I travel frequently between the Mainland and Hong Kong, how is my tax resident status determined?

The “dual-city living” people who frequently commute between the two places are the key targets of the new tax rules in 2025. The determination of their tax residency status is centered on “substance over number of days” and should be based on a combination of the following three core dimensions rather than just the number of days they stayed in the country.

01. Core judgmental dimensions

✅ center of vital interests (COMI): This is the most central criterion for judgment after the new 2025 rules. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will verify an individual's family relationship (where spouse and children reside), economic activities (where major assets are located, where core business/work is located), and social relationship (social circle, place of daily consumption). If the spouse and children are living in the Mainland, and the main properties, investments and jobs are located in the Mainland, the individual may still be judged as a Mainland tax resident even if the number of days of stay in Hong Kong meets the standard.

✅ permanent residence: If a person owns property in one place and the property is the main place of permanent residence (e.g., a family member lives there permanently), he or she will tend to be determined as a resident of that place for tax purposes; if he or she owns property in both places, a further determination will be made in conjunction with the “center of vital interests”.

✅ Number of days of stay: As an auxiliary criterion for judgment, it is required to be calculated according to the rules of the two places separately:
🇨🇳 mainland China (PRC excluding Hong Kong and Macau, but including islands such as Hainan): The number of days of residence in the Mainland is calculated on the basis of “24 hours to 1 day”, and a total of 183 days without a residence may constitute a tax resident in the Mainland;
🇭🇰 fact: The number of days of stay calculated on the basis of “one day on both the date of entry and departure” satisfies the 180 days/300 days criterion and may constitute Hong Kong tax residents if they have substantial connection with Hong Kong.

02. Policy updates

In 2026, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) clarified the criteria for determining “short-term commuting”: if a taxpayer commutes between Hong Kong and Shenzhen on a regular weekly basis and has a stable residence and economic activities in Hong Kong, he/she can be recognized as a Hong Kong tax resident under the definition of “habitual residence”, even if the number of days of stay in Hong Kong exceeds 183 days in a year. 183 days.

03. Case descriptions

Mr. Chan works in Hong Kong from Monday to Friday and returns to the Mainland on weekends. He rents a flat in Hong Kong (for a period of 12 months) and his children are enrolled in school in Hong Kong. Although his stay in the Mainland may exceed 183 days, he is still recognized as a Hong Kong tax resident because he has a stable residence and family life in Hong Kong.

It should be noted that whether a Hong Kong company can enjoy a low tax rate, it has to meet the requirements of having a physical office in Hong Kong, employing local employees, opening a Hong Kong bank account, and having shareholders and directors in Hong Kong, i.e., it has to have a “substantial business operation”.

For entrepreneurs with cross-border business needs(math.) genusEnterprise Finance GroupWe can provide a full range of services such as cross-border e-commerce operation, Hong Kong company registration, bank account opening, ODI filing/FDI filing, etc., which can help your enterprise to comply with the whole process from the establishment to the operation, and smoothly build a “substantial business” system to enjoy the dividends of Hong Kong's low tax rate.

The difference between Hong Kong status and Hong Kong tax resident is a big difference. 2026, after the new policy, “substance over form” has become the core of the judgment, the number of days of stay is no longer a talisman, family, assets, economic ties are the key.

Whether you are ready to apply for Hong Kong status, or have been living in the two cities for many years, it is important to understand the difference between the two, in order to do a good job of tax planning, to avoid duplication of tax payments in both places. Identity is the admission ticket, while tax resident is the real guardian of the “pocketbook”.

Enterprise Finance GroupWe are your expert in global entrepreneurship and identity planning. We specialize in providing domestic and international company registration services in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Singapore, BVI, Cayman and other domestic and international company registration services, company annual audit/audit/bookkeeping and tax reporting/tax compliance/change of information/bank account opening/ODI filing/FDI filing and other corporate services, Hong Kong identity application/renewal/permanent residence services, Singapore EP application services, cross-border One-stop services such as e-commerce accompanying and operating on behalf of the company. Whether you are a personal identity planning, or enterprise cross-border layout, we will escort you.

You need or interested in any time to contact me (Tel: 16620947137, Wechat: Qicaiyingjituan).