A property agent was convicted today (March 15) at the District Court of evading tax. Sentencing was adjourned to April 19 pending the defendant’s submission of plea in mitigation. 

     The defendant, aged 65, was a licensed property agent and operated a property agency company. She pleaded guilty to 11 charges of evading tax wilfully with intent and one charge of making an incorrect return without reasonable excuse. The tax evasion charges comprised seven counts of omitting the rental income from her tax returns for the years of assessment 2008/09 to 2014/15; two counts of giving false answers in writing to the request by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) for rental information for the years of assessment 2009/10 and 2011/12; two counts of making false statements in connection with a claim for deduction of home loan interest for the year of assessment 2014/15, contrary to section 82(1)(a), 82(1)(e) and 82(1)(c) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO) (Cap. 112). For the charge of making incorrect return, the defendant understated her rental income for the year of assessment 2015/16, contrary to section 80(2)(a) of the IRO.   
         
     The court heard that the defendant owned 12 properties, 10 of which were for letting purposes, during the relevant period. The defendant did not report any rental income in her tax returns for the years of assessment 2008/09 to 2014/15, and reported the rental income of only one of her letting properties in her tax return for the year of assessment 2015/16. The IRD issued written enquiries to the defendant in respect of the non-reporting of rental income in her tax returns for the years of assessment 2009/10 and 2011/12. The defendant stated in her written replies that she did not have any letted property in the two years of assessment concerned. In addition, the defendant claimed deduction of home loan interest in respect of her letting property in the tax return for the year of assessment 2014/15 and an application form, and stated therein that she occupied that property as her residence for the whole year. 

     An investigation by the IRD revealed that tenants were solicited by the defendant or property agents appointed by her for her 10 letting properties (four of which were partitioned into subdivided units). The rents were deposited into the bank accounts of the defendant, her family members or her company. Furthermore, the defendant falsely declared twice that she resided at her letting property for the whole year during the year of assessment 2014/15 and claimed deduction of home loan interest on it. The total rental income omitted and understated for the years of assessment 2008/09 to 2015/16 was $4,605,711, and the tax undercharged amounted to $534,840. The amount of home loan interest falsely claimed by the defendant for the year of assessment 2014/15 was $10,534 with evaded tax of $1,790. 

     A spokesman for the IRD reminded taxpayers that tax evasion is a criminal offence under the IRO. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for each charge is three years’ imprisonment and a fine of $50,000 plus a further fine of three times the amount of tax evaded. Furthermore, a person who, without reasonable excuse, makes an incorrect return shall be guilty of an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 and a further fine of three times the amount of tax undercharged for each charge.

Ends/Friday, March 15, 2024
Issued at HKT 16:25

(Source : Information Services Department)

The Government served a notice to the Legislative Council today (March 6) to move a resolution under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310) (BRO) to increase business registration fees with effect from April 1, 2024. The Government will also publish in the Gazette on March 8 the Business Registration Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2024 (BRO Order) to increase branch registration fees and to waive the business registration levy of $150 payable to the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund for two years.
 
     The BRO requires every person who carries on a business in Hong Kong to apply for business registration and pay a business registration fee at the prescribed amount within one month from the date of commencement of the business. There are two types of business registration certificate, namely the one-year certificate and the three-year certificate. In view of the fact that business registration fees have remained unchanged for close to 30 years, the 2024-25 Budget has proposed to increase the business registration fees by $200 to $2,200 per annum (i.e. an increase of 10 per cent), with effect from April 1, 2024. In line with the proposed increase in the business registration fees, the branch registration fee, which is payable by each branch of a business that applies for business registration, will also increase by 10 per cent. The current and proposed business registration and branch registration fees are at Annex. 
    
    In addition to the business registration fee or branch registration fee, a business operator is required to pay a levy ($150 per annum) in respect of each business or branch registration to finance the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund. To relieve the impact of the increase in business registration fees and branch registration fees on businesses, and in view of the stable financial position of the Fund, the 2024-25 Budget has proposed to waive the levy of $150 for two years starting from April 1, 2024. The relevant changes are set out at Annex.
 
     To implement the proposed business registration fees with effect from April 1, 2024, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a resolution pursuant to section 18(1) of the BRO at the Legislative Council on March 27. To give full force and effect of law to the resolution before it is passed by the Legislative Council, the Public Revenue Protection (Business Registration) Order 2024 has been made by the Chief Executive. Moreover, the Financial Secretary has made the BRO Order pursuant to section 18(2) of the BRO to implement the proposed increase in branch registration fees and the two-year waiver of the levy. The BRO Order will be published in the Gazette on March 8 and tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on March 13.
 
    It is estimated that the above proposals of adjusting business registration fees and branch registration fees will increase government revenue by about $295 million per annum.

March 6, 2024

(Source : Information Services Department)