Hong Kong Incorporation and Market Entry Experts
Emerhub offers a full range of services to companies setting up in Hong Kong, from company formation to corporate secretary and local compliance.
- For foreign and local investors
- End-to-end support throughout the process
- Transparent, fixed prices
11,700+ companies set up since 2011
Everything your Hong Kong company needs
Incorporation takes a day. The bank account, audit, and annual filings take longer, and each has a deadline. One team in Hong Kong handles all of it.
Company registration
A private limited company, filed remotely and incorporated within 24 hours of submission. You receive the Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate together, ready for the bank.
Register a companyCorporate secretary
Every Hong Kong company needs a resident secretary, and a sole director cannot hold the role. We fill it through our TCSP-licensed entity and file your annual return on time.
See the serviceTax and accounting
Monthly books under HKFRS, your audit with a Hong Kong CPA, and your profits tax return filed by the deadline. If your profits are earned offshore, we build the claim from month one.
See the serviceTrademark registration
Your name and logo registered with the Intellectual Property Department. Company name approval does not check trademarks, so we search both before you print anything.
See the serviceImporter of record
Ship goods into Hong Kong without a local entity. We act as the importer on the declaration, clear the shipment, and lodge the import declaration within the 14-day window.
See the serviceWho sets up in Hong Kong with us
Most of our Hong Kong clients arrive with one of three plans.
You want a regional base in Asia
You need a company that can contract, bank, and invoice across the region without committing to any single market yet. A Hong Kong limited company holds multi-currency accounts and pays profits tax only on income sourced in Hong Kong. The operating entities can come later, once you know where the business is going.
You are building a holding structure over Southeast Asian subsidiaries
Your operating companies will sit in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, or mainland China, and you want a single parent above them. Hong Kong has no capital gains tax, no withholding tax on dividends paid out, and no exchange controls, so profits move up and out cleanly. We register the holding company here and the subsidiaries in each market, with one team handling the whole group.
You trade with mainland China
Your suppliers or customers are on the mainland and you need a contracting party they recognise. A Hong Kong entity signs the agreements, holds the account, and invoices in USD or RMB, with preferential access to the mainland under CEPA. You get the proximity without operating inside the mainland system.
In all three cases we incorporate the company, open the bank account, and handle the annual filings. If your plan doesn't fit neatly into one of the three, tell us what you are trying to do and we will suggest the structure.
Talk to our Hong Kong teamKey benefits of a Hong Kong company
Territorial, two-tier tax
You pay 8.25% on your first HK$2 million of profit and 16.5% above that, and only on profit sourced in Hong Kong. Profit earned genuinely offshore can be exempt entirely.
No VAT, capital gains, or withholding tax
No VAT or sales tax to charge your customers, no tax on the gains when you sell or restructure, and no withholding tax on dividends you pay to shareholders anywhere in the world.
100% foreign ownership
Own the company outright, with no local partner and no resident director. One person can be the sole shareholder and director, and run the whole thing from abroad.
A door to the mainland
A separate legal and business environment from mainland China, with preferential access to it under CEPA. Many clients run their China trade through the Hong Kong company for exactly this reason.
One place to track your projects and run every entity.
From the first incorporation to every filing after it. Follow active work step by step, send documents, start new requests, add your team, and keep every company compliant, all in one dashboard.
Every project, entity, and deadline in a single view.
From an incorporation in progress to the filings years later, kept current by the team that does the work.
Book a demoTrack every project live
Follow each incorporation, licence, or filing through every step, in real time.
Documents in one place
Send what we ask for, and keep every paper, licence, and register stored and versioned.
Request new services
Open a new entity, file annual reports, or add a licence, all from the dashboard.
Deadlines handled for you
Every filing, audit, and renewal date by market, with a reminder before each one.
Bring your whole team
Add colleagues, choose what each can see, and keep everyone up to date.
One source of truth. Every filing, document, and deadline updated by the team that handles it.
Tax rates and annual filings for a Hong Kong company
Hong Kong charges profits tax only on income sourced here: 8.25% on your first HK$2 million and 16.5% on the rest. If your customers and your work are outside Hong Kong, you can claim the profit as offshore and pay nothing on it. The claim is not automatic. The IRD asks where the contracts were signed and where the work was done, and we set up your bookkeeping to answer that from the start. For the full rates and exemptions, see our guide to Hong Kong profits tax and exemptions.
Every year your company files an annual return within 42 days of its incorporation anniversary, has its accounts audited, files a profits tax return, and renews its Business Registration Certificate. The audit applies even if you made no revenue, since Hong Kong has no small-company exemption. We build it into your yearly cycle from the start.
- Profits tax, first HK$2M
- 8.25%
- Profits tax, above HK$2M
- 16.5%
- Offshore-sourced profit
- Exempt on claim
- VAT / GST
- None
- Capital gains, dividend withholding
- None
- Annual return (NAR1)
- 42 days after anniversary
- Statutory audit
- Every company, every year
- Business Registration Certificate
- Renewed yearly
What clients say
Rated 4.7 across 226 Google reviews.
“Hired Emerhub to set up a company for me. The process was smooth, timelines were met, and the communicator was proactive. I would gladly use them again.”
“A smooth process from start to finish, from translating the documents to getting everything filed and issued.”
“Handled by a professional team. Active follow-up, responding in less than 24 hours, and the project was done within the promised deadline.”
What founders ask before choosing Hong Kong
Questions about the market and the structure. For cost, timeline, and the step-by-step process, see the company registration page.
Do I need a local director?
No. You can be the sole director and sole shareholder from anywhere in the world. This is the main practical difference from Singapore, which requires a resident director. The only local appointment Hong Kong requires is the company secretary, which we provide.
Why do I need a company secretary at all?
The Companies Ordinance requires every company to appoint a Hong Kong-resident secretary or a TCSP-licensed firm. The secretary is the Registry’s point of contact and is responsible for your annual return and statutory registers. If you are the only director, you cannot hold the role yourself, so a licensed provider is not optional. Emerhub acts as your secretary through its licensed Hong Kong entity.
How much tax will I pay?
8.25% on your first HK$2 million of assessable profit and 16.5% above that, on Hong Kong-sourced profit only. There is no VAT, no capital gains tax, and no withholding tax on dividends. If your profit is earned outside Hong Kong, see the next question.
Is income I earn outside Hong Kong taxed?
Often not, but you have to claim it. The IRD looks at where your contracts were negotiated, where the work was done, and where decisions were made. If the answer is outside Hong Kong, the profit can be exempt. We structure your bookkeeping and substance from the first month so the claim holds when the IRD asks.
Is Hong Kong an offshore jurisdiction?
Not in the tax-haven sense. It has a public companies register, mandatory audits, and a tax authority that tests offshore claims. What you get is a territorial tax system inside a real financial centre with real banks. Our guide to offshore company formation in Hong Kong explains when the structure makes sense for you.
Can my Hong Kong company own subsidiaries elsewhere?
Yes, anywhere, subject to that country’s own inbound rules. Hong Kong puts no restrictions on outbound investment and no exchange controls on the dividends coming back. Many of our clients hold their Indonesian, Vietnamese, or Chinese operating companies this way, and we set up both layers.
Which visa do I need to move to Hong Kong and run the business?
None to own or manage the company from abroad. If you want to relocate, the entrepreneur stream of the General Employment Policy is for founders running a business that contributes to the local economy, with no fixed investment threshold. High-net-worth investors can use the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, which requires a HK$30 million investment.
How do I check whether a company is registered in Hong Kong?
Through the Companies Registry’s e-Search, which shows the name, company number, registered office, and status. Our company name search page walks you through it and explains what the record does and does not tell you.
Tell us what you are building
Thirty minutes with our Hong Kong team. You leave knowing whether Hong Kong fits, which structure to use, which bank is likely to approve you, and what the first year costs.
World Finance Centre
17 Canton Road
Hong Kong
