Recently, many cross-border business owners, foreign trade entrepreneurs, and owners of red-chip companies with operations in Hong Kong have been focusing on one issue:

Can Hong Kong companies continue to file zero tax returns indefinitely?

Over the past few years, many business owners have registered companies in Hong Kong for a very simple reason:

“Hong Kong has a low corporate tax rate.”
“If you don’t have an office in Hong Kong, you don’t have to pay taxes.”
“The Hong Kong company is just for receiving payments; don’t worry too much about it.”
“As long as the account can receive payments normally, I’ll file a zero-income tax return for now.”
“Everyone used to do it this way, and nothing ever went wrong.”

But now, it's really time to change this old way of thinking.

Recently, I’ve met many business owners involved in cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade exports, and they all have a Hong Kong-based company.

Some are used to receive payments from Amazon, Mercado Libre, and independent websites;

Some are used as the contracting party for contracts with overseas clients;

Some are used to open third-party payment accounts;

Others heard from friends a few years ago that “Hong Kong companies are convenient,” so they went ahead and registered one on a whim.

But when the conversation actually turns to accounting and auditing, many business owners’ first reaction is:

“Don’t Hong Kong companies not have to pay taxes?”

“Do I still have to do my bookkeeping even though I don’t work in Hong Kong?”

“The agent used to say I could file a zero return—why can’t I do that now?”

“I’m just using it to receive payments—I don’t have a physical business—so it should be fine, right?”

If you still hold this view, you need to be especially careful.

Have you ever felt this way—your store is up and running, your product has been validated, your advertising budget is manageable, and your supply chain is stable. Logically, the next step should be to add more stores, more SKUs, and increase shipping volume—it’s a natural progression.

But you don't dare.

It’s not a lack of confidence; it’s because I’ve done the math: every additional shipment is like planting another landmine. The bigger the operation, the more fines you’ll face down the road. This feeling that “the harder you work, the more dangerous it gets” is the real obstacle to growth in cross-border e-commerce.

Here’s a real-life case study. While the data has been anonymized to some extent, the transformation process and timeline are complete.

If you, too, are struggling with questions like “Should I comply?” and “How do I comply?”, this case study will provide you with a very clear reference point.

最近，我们接触到不少跨境卖家的咨询：

“公司不准备做了，现在注销还来得及吗？”

“以前账比较乱，现在注销会不会有问题？”

“公司已经停业两年了，为什么注销一直办不下来？”

很多老板都有一个共同认知：公司不经营了，注销就行。但真正进入注销流程后才发现，事情远没有想象中那么简单。