Hong Kong Company Formation Guide (2026): How to Set Up a Hong Kong Company From Abroad

A Hong Kong private company limited by shares can be owned and run by a founder who lives anywhere, and the online filing is usually done within an hour. This guide covers what you need, the steps, what becomes public and what the company files in its first years, from the Companies Registry’s and Inland Revenue Department’s own guidance, checked in October 2026. Day-to-day matters once the company exists, such as the business registration certificate, the company chop and the business address, are covered on laulega.com, linked below.

Comparing places first? See best country to incorporate and Hong Kong vs Singapore.

Who you need

• At least one shareholder, individual or company, from anywhere. A private company can have up to 50 members.
• At least one director who is an individual, 18 or over, living anywhere. Companies can also be directors, alongside the individual.
• A company secretary: an individual who ordinarily lives in Hong Kong, or a Hong Kong company. A sole director can’t also be the secretary. In practice a founder abroad uses a licensed provider; for 818HI clients it is LAULEGA LIMITED, TCSP licence TC000573.
• A registered office in Hong Kong.

More detail: company secretary requirements and registered office requirements.

Sources: CR: incorporation FAQ · CR: Companies Ordinance highlights · Cap. 622 s.459

The name and the shares

• The company can have an English name, a Chinese name, or both, but not one mixing English and Chinese. An English name must end with “Limited” and a Chinese name with “有限公司”; Chinese names use traditional characters. A name already on the Registrar’s index can’t be registered.
• Shares have had no par value since 3 March 2014, so there is no nominal value or authorised capital to set. Decide how many shares to issue and how much each founder pays.

Sources: CR: guideline on company names · CR: Companies Ordinance highlights

Step by step

1. Collect the documents: passports and addresses for directors and shareholders, the company secretary’s consent, the registered office.
2. File online through the Companies Registry’s e-Services Portal (a free user account): the incorporation form NNC1, the articles of association, and the business registration form IRBR1 with the business registration fee and levy. Applying to incorporate counts as applying for business registration at the same time.
3. Receive the certificates. The certificate of incorporation and the business registration certificate are normally issued as PDFs within about an hour. A paper filing takes about four working days.
4. Set up the registers, including the significant controllers register, which the company keeps itself and which isn’t public.
5. Open the bank account. See opening a Hong Kong bank account remotely.

Once the company exists, laulega.com covers the business registration certificate, the company chop and the business address.

Sources: CR: incorporation pamphlet (PAM 27E) · CR: e-filing (PAM 24E) · CR: significant controllers register

Costs

Sources: CR: incorporation FAQ · IRD: BR fee table · CR: annual return

What the public can see

The company’s public record shows its directors and shareholders. Since 24 October 2022, directors’ and company secretaries’ usual residential addresses and full identity numbers are replaced on the public record by a correspondence address and a partial identity number; since 27 December 2023, those in older records can be withheld on application. The significant controllers register stays with the company and isn’t public.

Sources: CR: new inspection regime FAQ · CR: obtaining company information

The first years

• Annual return within 42 days of each anniversary of incorporation; see the NAR1 deadline.
• Business registration renewed each year (or every three).
• Audited accounts. Every Hong Kong company except a dormant one has its accounts audited.
• Profits tax. The Inland Revenue Department usually issues the first profits tax return about 18 months after incorporation. Hong Kong taxes only profits sourced in Hong Kong, at 8.25% on the first HK$2 million and 16.5% above. How it works in practice is on Certanta: profits tax rates.

Running the company from abroad? Read where is your company really managed? before your first year closes.

Sources: CR: accounts and audit · IRD: block extension letter 2026/27 · IRD: two-tiered rates

An example

Invented for illustration. Yuki lives in Osaka and trades Japanese kitchen tools to buyers in Southeast Asia. She forms a Hong Kong company with herself as sole director and shareholder, an English and a Chinese name, and 10,000 shares. Because she is the only director, a licensed provider acts as company secretary, and the registered office is in Hong Kong. The filing goes in online in the morning; the certificates arrive before lunch. Her diary has three dates: the annual return 42 days after her first anniversary, the business registration renewal, and the first profits tax return around eighteen months in.

Frequently asked questions

General information for internationally mobile founders, not tax, legal or immigration advice for your situation. Rules and fees change; confirm your position with a qualified adviser in each country involved before acting.