Foreigners often imagine that keeping a Hong Kong company compliant is a year-round nightmare. It isn't. It's a short, predictable annual cycle — an Annual Return (NAR1), a Business Registration renewal, and audited accounts filed with a Profits Tax Return — with the significant-controllers register kept current in the background. Here's the calendar, and how we run it for you.
Almost every foreign founder we speak to has the same quiet worry once the company is up and running: "What do I actually have to keep doing — and what happens if I miss something?" The word "compliance" conjures a year of unpredictable demands, mysterious forms, and the constant risk of an expensive misstep. That fear is one of the biggest reasons people hesitate before incorporating in Hong Kong at all.
The reality is far calmer. Hong Kong's ongoing obligations are few in number, they recur on the same dates every year, and the dates are anchored to two simple events: your incorporation anniversary and your financial year-end. Once you can see the whole year on one page, "compliance" stops being a cloud of anxiety and becomes a short checklist — most of which sits with us, not with you. Here's the scannable version first.
| Obligation | When | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Return (NAR1) | Filed within 42 days of the incorporation anniversary, every year | We prepare and file it |
| Business Registration (BR) renewal | Annually — currently HK$2,350 per year | We handle the renewal; no markup on the fee |
| Significant Controllers Register (SCR) | Kept current year-round; updated when ownership changes | We maintain it for you |
| Audited financial statements | Annually, after your financial year-end | We prepare the accounts; a HK CPA audits them |
| Profits Tax Return (PTR) | Annually, when issued by the IRD | We prepare and file it with the audited accounts |
The Yearly Cycle, in One Picture
A Hong Kong private limited company has two annual heartbeats. The first is your incorporation anniversary — the date the company was formed. The second is your financial year-end, the date you close the books each year (many Hong Kong companies pick 31 March or 31 December, but you choose). Almost every recurring obligation hangs off one of those two dates, which is exactly why the year is predictable rather than chaotic.
Off the anniversary date sit two filings: the Annual Return (NAR1) to the Companies Registry and the Business Registration (BR) renewal. Off the financial year-end sits the accounting chain: close the books, have them audited by a Hong Kong CPA, and file the Profits Tax Return (PTR) with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) when it's issued. Running quietly underneath both is the Significant Controllers Register (SCR), which you keep current all year. That's the entire shape of it — and if you're still deciding whether a Hong Kong company is the right vehicle for you, our guide on who a Hong Kong company is right for is the place to start.
None of these are surprises. They don't appear out of nowhere, they don't change month to month, and they're driven by dates you'll know from day one. The job is simply to never let one slip — and that's the job a firm like ours is built around.
The Annual Return (NAR1): 42 Days Off Your Anniversary
The Annual Return is a snapshot of your company's particulars — its registered office, directors, shareholders, and share capital — filed on form NAR1 with the Companies Registry (CR). It is not a tax form and has nothing to do with how much money the company made; it simply confirms who and what the company is, once a year.
The timing is the part to internalise: the NAR1 must be filed within 42 days of the company's incorporation anniversary, every year. That 42-day window is the single most important date in the Companies Registry side of your calendar. Late filing risks escalating registration fees and, if ignored, further consequences for the company and its directors — so we don't let it get close. We file your NAR1 on time, every year, as part of your ongoing service, and we confirm the particulars with you before anything is lodged.
Because the NAR1 reflects your current structure, it's also the moment any changes during the year — a new director, a share transfer, a change of registered office — need to be accurately captured. That record-keeping is part of the company secretary function, which we provide, so the snapshot the Registry receives always matches reality.
Business Registration Renewal: HK$2,350 a Year
Separate from the Companies Registry filing, every Hong Kong business must hold a valid Business Registration (BR) certificate from the IRD, and it's renewed annually. The current government fee for a one-year certificate is HK$2,350 — that's the HK$2,200 registration fee plus the HK$150 levy that was reinstated on 1 April 2026 after a two-year waiver. We renew it for you and pass the government fee through at cost, with no markup.
The NAR1 goes to the Companies Registry off your incorporation anniversary; the BR renewal (HK$2,350/yr) goes to the IRD. They're easy to confuse because both are "annual," but they're separate filings to separate authorities — we track both so neither is missed.
It's worth knowing how this looked at the start, so the running cost makes sense. At incorporation, the government bundle is HK$3,895 — the HK$1,545 Companies Registry electronic incorporation fee plus that same HK$2,350 first-year BR. From year two onward, the BR renewal recurs annually while the one-off incorporation fee does not. You can confirm the current figures on the government fee schedules; we keep our quoted numbers aligned to them.
Audited Accounts + the Profits Tax Return
This is the part of the cycle foreigners worry about most, and it's genuinely the most substantial — but it's still routine when the books are kept tidy through the year. Hong Kong companies must prepare annual financial statements and have them audited by a Hong Kong CPA; those audited accounts then support the Profits Tax Return (PTR) filed with the Inland Revenue Department. The audit isn't optional paperwork — it's the foundation the tax return is built on.
The PTR is filed annually, when the IRD issues it. A brand-new company typically receives its first return some months after incorporation rather than immediately, and the IRD sets the submission date on the return itself. Tax is charged on profits, not turnover, on Hong Kong's two-tier scale: 8.25% on the first HK$2 million of assessable profits and 16.5% above that, per the Inland Revenue Department. As with the other deadlines, late filing risks penalties — so we keep you ahead of the date rather than scrambling at it.
The way to make this an easy annual event rather than a stressful one is bookkeeping that's current all year, so the audit has clean records to work from. That's the heart of our accounting and audit service: we keep the books, prepare the financial statements, coordinate the CPA audit, and file the Profits Tax Return — so the "scary" part of compliance becomes a handover, not a fire drill.
The Significant Controllers Register and Your Statutory Records
One obligation doesn't have a filing date because it runs continuously: the Significant Controllers Register (SCR). Since 2018, every Hong Kong company must keep a register identifying the people who ultimately own or control it — the beneficial owners — and keep it at a location accessible to law-enforcement officers on demand. It isn't filed publicly each year, but it must exist, be accurate, and be kept up to date whenever ownership or control changes.
Alongside the SCR sits the rest of your statutory record-keeping: registers of directors, shareholders, and charges, plus the minute book. For a foreign owner this is reassuring rather than burdensome — it's the same transparency framework that makes a Hong Kong company a credible, bankable counterparty, and it's exactly the kind of administration that belongs with your company secretary. We maintain the SCR and the statutory registers for you, and update them whenever something changes, so they're always ready if requested.
How We Run the Whole Cycle for You
Put the pieces together and the picture is simple: a small number of recurring obligations, each tied to a date you can predict, almost all of them handled by us. You are never expected to file an NAR1, renew a BR, chase an auditor, or remember a Profits Tax Return deadline yourself — those are our responsibility under your ongoing service, and our calendar, not yours, is the one watching the dates.
What we genuinely need from you is small and infrequent: your business records and bank statements for the bookkeeping, a heads-up when ownership or directors change, and your sign-off where a decision is yours to make. Everything else — the preparation, the filing, the deadline-tracking, the liaison with the Companies Registry and the IRD — sits on our side. That division of labour is the whole point of working with a firm rather than going it alone.
- Preparing and filing the NAR1 within the 42-day window
- Renewing the Business Registration each year (fee at cost, no markup)
- Maintaining the Significant Controllers Register and statutory records
- Bookkeeping, financial statements, and coordinating the CPA audit
- Preparing and filing the Profits Tax Return when the IRD issues it
- Watching every deadline so nothing slips
- Your business records and bank statements for the bookkeeping
- A heads-up when directors, shareholders, or ownership change
- Your chosen financial year-end (a one-time decision)
- Sign-off on the accounts and returns before we file
If the fear of "ongoing compliance" has been the thing holding you back, the fastest way to replace it with a concrete plan is a short conversation about your specific company — your year-end, your business model, and what your annual cycle will actually look like. Speak with our Hong Kong team and we'll map the whole year for you. For the wider context on the misconceptions foreign founders carry, our piece on the myths about setting up a Hong Kong company as a foreigner covers the rest of the picture.
The Bottom Line
Annual compliance for a foreign-owned Hong Kong company is a rhythm, not a maze. Each year you have a NAR1 due within 42 days of your incorporation anniversary, a Business Registration renewal at HK$2,350, a Significant Controllers Register kept current, and audited accounts filed with a Profits Tax Return after your year-end — taxed on profits at 8.25% and 16.5%, never on turnover. Five obligations, all on predictable dates.
And the dates are ours to watch. We file the NAR1, handle the BR renewal, maintain the SCR, prepare the audit, and lodge the Profits Tax Return — passing government fees through with no markup. The "nightmare" is really just a calendar, and it's one we keep for you, so the only thing left on your plate is running the business.
