After you incorporate a Hong Kong company, you will need to register it at the Inland Revenue Department in order to apply for your Business Registration in Hong Kong. This certificate is required on display at the address you have used to register your company. This must be done once you have decided to open a company in Hong Kong. This article will help you understand all about business registration in Hong Kong and how to obtain a business registration certificate in Hong Kong.
Business Registration in Hong Kong
To start running your business, you will have to also register it with the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department in order to get a business registration certificate (BRC). Let us dive deep into what is business registration in Hong Kong and how to register the business in Hong Kong.
What is business registration in Hong Kong?
Before diving deep into the business registration certificate, let us reflect on the definition. A business registration certificate (BRC) is a document issued by the Business Registration Office to give details of a company. It is one of the major requirements for running a business in Hong Kong. In case you have a business in Hong Kong, you must apply for a BRC within 30 days of commencing operations. You must notify the Business registration office if the details of your business change within 30 days to make an appropriate update on the registry.
A business registration certificate is one that shows the details such as the name of the business, nature of the business, address of the business, type of the company, date of business commencement, expiration date, and the certificate number.
When should a company need to register their business?
The best time to register for BRC is when your company is incorporated under the Hong Kong companies. In case you apply for the business registration certificate while incorporating the company, the business registration certificate process runs simultaneously with your company’s registration. It also indicates that you will receive the certificate of incorporation simultaneously with the business registration certificate.
If you get both the business registration certificate together with the certificate of incorporation, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) requires you to notify it in one month. When making the notification, the details to include are the date when the business commenced, a description of the company, and the nature of the notification. These are the details that will be reflected in the updated business registration certificate in Hong Kong.
Suppose your business takes the form of partnership, sole-proprietorship, branches, or unincorporated body of persons. In that case, you must get the registration done within one month from the date of commencing operations.
Does every company in Hong Kong need to register their business?
According to Hong Kong Law, every person who is doing or planning to do business in Hong Kong must register their business with the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department. Once they register their business in Hong Kong, they need to showcase at the address they incorporated with. Nevertheless, there are limitations to this law as well. Here is the list which will determine if your business needs to get registered or not.
- Any organization or activity to make a profit must be registered within the first month of starting the business.
- Clubs are offering facilities and services to its members for a fee. In order to continue operating, these clubs have to register themselves as a business.
- Companies that are incorporated in Hong Kong, must be registered.
- Companies not incorporated in Hong Kong but registered under the Companies Ordinance.
- A non-Hong Kong corporation that has a representative or relationship office in Hong Kong has to get the company registered.
- A non-Hong Kong corporation that has rented its property situated in Hong Kong also has to get the company registered even if it has not established a place of business in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Business Registration Certificate
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is assigned to providing an efficient business registration service that enables business owners to comply with their legal obligations easily and facilitate public members to obtain business information conveniently.
Business registration is not for regulating business activities. It is also not a license to trade. It requires all the business people to apply for business registration in Hong Kong and demonstrate a valid business registration certificate at your business place. If the business’s registered particulars have changed, the business operator has to notify the IRD in writing within one month of the change.
The information presented in the “applications for registration” and the “notifications of change” on the Business Register is recorded by IRD. Upon payment of a fee, the public can extract the information on the business register. To enable business operators to obtain their business registration certificates in Hong Kong early and to make sure that changes in business particulars are updated to the business register, this should be done as soon as possible. The information provided by business owners will be readily checked and will not be verified before any new entry or alteration is recorded. This information is for reference only.
What is a business registration certificate in Hong Kong?
One question that pops up when you apply for business registration is the name of the company. Will the business registration certificate carry the name of the company? The answer to this question is No. When you apply for a business registration certificate in Hong Kong, there are two methods to the approach. One is by using the name that is already mentioned in the certificate of incorporation. The other way is by applying for a Branch BR certificate that contains an office address where the company operates.
Business operators may choose to have a business registration certificate in Hong Kong, which is valid for three years instead of one. Once its business operator has decided, a quote will remain valid until it is revoked in writing. For the businesses that have one or more branches, the selection of the business registration certificate will be applicable to both the main business and its branches, old and new.
According to the Business Registration Ordinance, business registration is managed by the Business Registration Office under the Inland Revenue Department in Hong Kong. These offices register businesses carried by an individual, a partnership, a local limited company, or a non-Hong Kong company. Generally, the cost of business registration in Hong Kong is HK$250 for a certificate with a validity period of 1-year. Meanwhile, for a certificate that has a validity period of 3 years, the payment of HK$3,950.
What is a business registration number?
A business registration number in Hong Kong is a unique identifier issued by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to a registered enterprise. A business registration number consists of eight numerals and is clearly displayed in the business registration certificate (BRC). You will need this number while you are dealing with different government agencies, like filing annual returns with the IRD.
Obtaining Business Registration Certificate In Hong Kong
It is important to have a business registration certificate in Hong Kong. There are two ways to apply for a business registration certificate in Hong Kong. You can opt for one of the below-mentioned ways.
One-stop company and business registration
The first one is a one-stop service; you can use one application to apply for incorporation and business registration certificate in Hong Kong.
When you present an incorporation form for a local limited company or enrollment of a non-Hong Kong organization at the Companies Registry, the registry will assume that you have made an application to register a business in Hong Kong.
Basically, you are applying to obtain the business registration certificate in Hong Kong along with the incorporation of your business. This way, you will get the certificate of incorporation along with the business registration certificate in Hong Kong.
On the off chance that you receive the business registration certificate along with the certificate of incorporation, you would have to inform the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) within one month after you start operations, particularly if your business appears as an association, sole-ownership, branches, or unincorporated group of people.
Directly apply to the BRC office
You can likewise apply for the business enrollment declaration in Hong Kong from the Business Registration Office straightforwardly. Complete the form IRBR 37 here and pay the endorsed charge on the registration office’s site.
Display of Business Registration Certificate
Now that you have finished this necessary stage of registering your business. You must now display this piece of paper proudly at the address where your business is carried out. No matter whether a business registration certificate was issued to you electronically or online, you would still need to print it out.
An official inspection can happen by any Hong Kong government administration officer; the certificate must be produced.
Why Hire Startupr to Obtain Your BRC in Hong Kong?
You can also hire a professional company that will help you obtain a business registration certificate in Hong Kong. Hiring an agency will make the process easy. This will make the entire process of obtaining a business registration certificate in Hong Kong easy and hassle-free.
Startupr can help you prepare the required documents to register your business and submit them to the BRC office. Moreover, we can also help you to apply for a bank account for your business. Our services come in handy, being that we’re physically located in Hong Kong and can manage your company incorporation entirely online. The best part about hiring Startupr is that we will help you avoid mistakes that other companies make, especially when you are getting started in Hong Kong. Therefore, in case you are searching for a company to register a business in Hong Kong, contact Startupr now!