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| Taxpayer Services |
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| The Department aims to provide high quality customer-oriented services. Particular emphasis is placed on making relevant information readily available to taxpayers. Various means are used, such as the Internet, electronic enquiry services and an interactive telephone answering system. |
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| IRD Homepage |
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| www.ird.gov.hk |
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| Through its homepage, the Department continues to expand the scope of tax information and provide a wider range of electronic service, so that any person interested to know more about taxes in Hong Kong may access our e-service anytime, anywhere. |
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| More and more taxpayers rely on the homepage to |
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get information on how to complete tax returns, fulfil tax obligations and find solutions to common tax issues;
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download IRD software and tax forms; and
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use the interactive application software to compute their salaries tax liability.
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| Four IRD Internet Booths, one on the ground floor and three on the first floor of the Revenue Tower, have been installed for public browsing. |
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| Electronic Enquiry Services |
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Electronic enquiry services are not only available on the Internet to holders of digital certificates, they are also available on the telephone to the registered users of TeleTax. By using his Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and a e-Tax password, a registered TeleTax user can use a touch-tone phone to check his personal tax information, including tax return lodgement status, assessment status, charge payment status and tax reserve certificate account balances. He can also request duplicate returns or assessment notices, payment confirmations or tax reserve certificate account statements anytime, anywhere via the telephone.
With the same TIN and password, a taxpayer can also enquire about his personal tax information on the Internet through the Interactive Tax Enquiry service under the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme. |
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| Telephone and Counter Enquiry Services |
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The Department's Enquiry Service Centre handles telephone and counter enquiries. The Centre, equipped with computer network, provides an immediate "one-stop" service as far as possible. |
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The Centre makes use of an Interactive Telephone Enquiry System with 120 telephone lines. Callers can, on a 24-hour basis, gain access to a wide range of tax information by listening to recorded messages or obtaining facsimile copies of the information and forms. Callers are able to speak to enquiry officers during office hours. A leave-and-call-back facility is also available.
Over 1.34 million telephone calls were answered by the Centre during the year. The number of calls answered by staff was over 0.68 million (Figure 35 and Figure 36). |
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2003-04 |
2004-05 |
Increase/Decrease |
No. of calls answered by staff |
712,009 |
685,608 |
-3.7% |
No. of enquiries answered by staff |
831,093 |
845,728 |
+1.8% |
No. of calls answered by system |
721,036 |
655,626 |
-9.1% |
No. of leave-and-call-back messages |
71,993 |
62,552 |
-13.1% |
No. of fax supplied by the system |
16,613 |
12,905 |
-22.3% |
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Counter staff of the Centre are generally able to handle enquiries, collect mail and issue forms without the need to refer to other officers in the Department.
To facilitate the provision of quality counter enquiry service, the Centre has installed an electronic queuing system to enable taxpayers to be served according to tag numbers in sequence. The number of counter enquiries handled during the year was over 0.62 million (Figure 37).
A taxpayer service team with professionally qualified staff is also stationed in the Centre. The members of this team handle more complex cases.
To make it easier for taxpayers to obtain tax information and forms, two form stands are installed; one on the ground floor and the other on the first floor of the Revenue Tower. |
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| Tax-help Services for Completion of Tax Returns |
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On the web we arranged e-Seminars for tax representatives, employers, property owners and individual taxpayers. Information on how to complete tax returns, fulfil tax obligations and overcome difficulties in compliance are uploaded onto the IRD homepage to facilitate unlimited access by interested parties via computer terminals installed at home, office, Home Affairs Department, community halls or public libraries. Enquiries can be raised electronically at the "Q&A Column" on the homepage and replies will be made on a regular basis.
To further facilitate taxpayers' enquiries, the Department extended hours during which the telephone enquiry service was manned in May, until 7 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays and 5 p.m. on Saturdays. |
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| Complaints |
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If a taxpayer is dissatisfied with the services provided by the Department or cannot solve his or her problem satisfactorily through normal channels, the Complaints Officer may be approached for assistance. The complaint channel provides taxpayers with the means of having individual grievances dealt with independently at a senior level. This ensures that such cases are properly handled in a fair and unbiased manner. During 2004-05, 404 complaints cases were received (Figure 38). This represents a decrease of 12%, as compared with the previous year.
If a taxpayer is dissatisfied with any administrative action taken by the Department, the person concerned may refer the matter to the Ombudsman. During the year, the Ombudsman sought written comments from the Department in respect of 19 cases. In the light of these cases, the Department has reviewed relevant operations with a view to improving them.
There were 163 Letters of Compliments received during the year. In the Ombudsman Award 2005, the Department was selected for award for public organisations while two officers won individual awards. |
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| Performance Pledges |
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The service standards a taxpayer can expect from the Department are set out in the Performance Pledges. Through the performance pledge programme, a customer-oriented culture has taken a strong hold within the Department.
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