Allowances

Any married couple may elect joint assessment under Salaries Tax, irrespective of their resident status. The point to note for joint assessment is that both spouses should have income assessable to Hong Kong Salaries Tax for the year of election. If your spouse does not earn any income chargeable to Hong Kong Salaries Tax and has not elected for personal assessment separately in year of assessment 2023/24, you may claim Married Person´s Allowance and need not elect joint assessment.

Notwithstanding that your spouse is not a Hong Kong resident, you are eligible to claim married person´s allowance in any year of assessment if you are married at any time during that year, and

• are not living apart from your spouse; or are living apart from your spouse but are maintaining or supporting him/her; AND
• your spouse did not have any income chargeable to salaries tax; or you and your spouse have elected joint assessment; or you and your spouse have elected for personal assessment jointly.

As your spouse does not have a Hong Kong Identity Card, you have to furnish a copy of his/her proof of identity first. If your spouse subsequently obtains a Hong Kong Identity Card, please advise IRD in writing the Identity Card Number within 1 month. A copy of your marriage certificate may be requested by IRD for record purpose.

Child allowance for any year must be claimed en bloc by only one of the parents.

Generally speaking, it will be advantageous for the parent who has the higher income to claim child allowance. However, if one of you is being assessed at standard rate, it will be advantageous for the other to claim.

Taxpayers claiming child allowance are required to furnish details of their children in Part 11.2 of the Tax Return - Individuals. However, the method of nominating the spouse to claim child allowance has been made simple. The spouse nominated to claim child allowance will complete Part 11.2. The other spouse who does not claim child allowance will simply leave Part 11.2 blank.

If a taxpayer, his/her separated or divorced spouse and other persons are entitled to claim child allowance in respect of the same unmarried child, the Commissioner will invite all the claimants to reach an agreement on who should claim the allowance or agreement on apportionment of the child allowance. If no agreement is reached, the Commissioner will apportion the child allowance having regard to the contributions made by each claimant to the maintenance and education of this child. But if the information of such contributions is not provided, the Commissioner will not consider the claim for child allowance and will disallow the child allowance if such has been granted before.

The father or mother is entitled to claim child allowance in respect of this daughter, whether or not they are legally married as long as this daughter meets all the other requirements for claiming child allowance.

If your child is over 18 but under 25, child allowance could be granted if your child is receiving full time education at any time during the year of assessment. In your case, you may claim child allowance for the year of assessment 2023/24 in view of the fact that your son was receiving full time education during April 2023 to June 2023.

The contract of apprenticeship signed under the apprenticeship scheme is an employment contract between the apprentice and the employer. Therefore, your son is working and is not receiving full-time education. Since he aged over 18, you are not entitled to claim child allowance in respect of him.

The Training Centres operated by Vocational Training Council offer various courses of different levels. They range from one or two-year full-time courses, pre-employment training courses to part-time courses for the working people. You are entitled to claim child allowance in respect of your son if he studies a full-time course, which means he receives full-time education. If he only takes short-term courses or part-time courses, he does not receive full-time education, and you are therefore not entitled to claim child allowance in respect of him.

The Youth Pre-employment Training Programme offered by the Labour Department is designed to get young people prepared for entering the employment market in the future. The programme offers short-term modular training courses and workplace attachment training which are different from those full-time courses or training provided by universities or colleges. Since your child is over 18 in age and is not receiving full-time education, you are not entitled to claim child allowance in respect of him.

To be eligible for Dependent Brother or Dependent Sister Allowance, you must maintain an unmarried brother or sister and this brother or sister

In your case, you can get deduction for Dependent Brother Allowance if

Before admitting your claim, the Assessor may require you to produce documentary evidence, such as a doctor's certificate, to substantiate that your brother is physically unfit for work.

In the context of considering a taxpayer’s eligibility for dependent parent / grandparent allowance, the term “ordinarily resident in Hong Kong” means that, apart from temporary or occasional absences from Hong Kong, the dependant habitually resides in Hong Kong, and is living in Hong Kong as an ordinary member of the community would live for all the purposes of his/her daily life.

Whether a person ordinarily resides in Hong Kong is a question of fact which depends on the particular circumstances of each case. To determine whether a dependant is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, IRD will consider his/her social and economic ties with Hong Kong.  Objective factors that will be taken into consideration include:

Generally speaking, IRD does not consider a person, who possesses Hong Kong Identity Card, is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong if he/she lives outside Hong Kong continuously, and even if he/she returns to Hong Kong, the stays here are short and temporary.  In determining whether a holder of Hong Kong Identity Card is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, consideration has to be given to his/her actual place of residence in the relevant period.

To be eligible for dependent parent allowance, your dependant must be ordinarily resident in Hong Kong. As your mother has emigrated to overseas country, she lived outside Hong Kong continuously for settled purposes and only visited Hong Kong for a limited number of days, your mother could not be regarded as having satisfied the requirement of ordinarily resident in Hong Kong even though she holds a Hong Kong Identity Card.  Therefore, you are not eligible to claim for the dependent parent allowance in respect of your mother.

Dependent parent and dependent grandparent allowance would only be granted if the dependant is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong during the relevant year of assessment. Since your parent/grandparent is living in the Mainland, you are not entitled to claim dependent parent and dependent grandparent allowance.

If your parents have moved to the Mainland and settled there and they only return to Hong Kong to visit relatives in Hong Kong occasionally, they are not ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and you will not be entitled to dependent parent allowance. However, if your parents only stay in the Mainland for short periods from time to time and are still living in Hong Kong as ordinary member of the community would live for all the purposes of their daily lives, they are ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and you can claim dependent parent allowance.

To be eligible for Dependent Parent Allowance, the taxpayer must have maintained at any time during the year a parent who

• is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong;
• is age over 55; and
• has either resided with the taxpayer for a continuous period of 6 months or has received from the taxpayer or his/her spouse not less than $12,000 in money towards his/her maintenance during the year.

To be eligible for the allowance, all the above conditions must be fulfilled. As your mother has been residing with you in Canada for the year of assessment 2023/24 and was not ordinarily residing in Hong Kong, you fail to meet the criteria and cannot get the allowance.

If your parents were born between January and March 1969, they have reached the age of 55 in the year of assessment 2023/24. You are then entitled to claim the Dependent Parent Allowances in respect of your parents. If they, however, were born between April to December 1969, they are still under 55 in the year of assessment 2023/24.

Therefore, you should first ask your parents for their correct months of birth according to the best of their information and knowledge. If your parents have reached the age of 55 in the year of assessment 2023/24, you can complete Part 11.4 of the Tax Return and furnish the relevant information such as their correct years and months of birth.

In general, a person living in the same building of that of the dependent parents but on a different floor does not satisfy the requirement of residing with the dependent parents for the purpose of claiming Additional Dependent Parent Allowance.

Based on the situation you mentioned, your dependent parent does not reside with you, so you are not entitled to Additional Dependent Parent Allowance.

The ownership of the residential flat is not a factor to determine whether your parents reside with you for the purpose of Dependent Parent Allowance. Even if your parents reside with you, you should also fulfill the requirement on maintaining your parents before you can claim the Dependent Parent Allowance or the Additional Allowance. If your parents reside with you, otherwise than for full valuable consideration, for a continuous period of not less than 6 months, you are entitled to claim Dependent Parent Allowance. If they reside with you, otherwise than for full valuable consideration, continuously throughout the year of assessment, you are also entitled to the Additional Allowance.

Before you complete your tax return, you should read the "Guide to Tax Return - Individuals" carefully to ensure that you are entitled to claim Dependent Parent Allowance. To claim the allowance, you should complete the relevant parts, which are applicable to your claim, of the Part 11.4 of the tax return. You don´t have to state the amount of contributions actually paid in the year or to submit any documentary evidence with your tax return. However, you need to keep the relevant records for a period of 6 years after the expiration of the relevant year of assessment. The assessor may require you to provide such evidence when your case is subsequently selected for review.

Note : The boxes for item (6)(b) in Part 11.4 of the Tax Return - Individuals concern deduction claims for Elderly Residential Care Expenses. If you wish to claim Dependent Parent Allowance, please do not fill in the amount of actual contributions in these boxes.

IRD would require the taxpayer to supply a copy of the dependant's Hong Kong identity card. Further, the taxpayer is required to provide evidence to substantiate that the dependant was residing with the taxpayer in the same address during the year of assessment concerned, e.g. bank statement. IRD would match the information supplied by taxpayers with that in its computer. IRD would also obtain information from other government departments, including the Immigration Department, Social Welfare Department and Housing Department in order to verify the information supplied by the taxpayer is in order.

[Please click here for information about documentary evidence required to substantiate disabled dependants.]

Generally speaking, IRD would not ask taxpayers to provide the receipts of the daily expenses of their dependent parents. Taxpayers can provide information on how they contribute to their parents' maintenance, for example, if contribution is made through automatic bank transfer or regular withdrawals from bank accounts, copies of the relevant bank statements can be provided for verification. Taxpayers can also supply the rental receipts of their dependent parent's residence, utilities and medical bills, if any, for examination when their cases were selected for review. If the information provided is contrary to information available to the IRD, taxpayers may be required to provide further information or evidence relevant to their claims.

[Please click here for information about documentary evidence required to substantiate disabled dependants.]

Inland Revenue Ordinance allows a taxpayer to claim an allowance in respect of an adopted parent or adopted grandparent. By virtue of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, “adopted” refers to adoption in any manner recognized by the law of Hong Kong. Accordingly, your "Kai Ma" is not within the statutory meaning of the word “parent” for the purpose of this allowance.

Without a registration of marriage, your wife's stepfather does not satisfy the definition of “parent” under the Inland Revenue Ordinance. You are not entitled to Dependent Parent Allowance unless your wife's stepfather married to your mother-in-law according to the traditional Chinese custom before the amendment of the matrimonial law on 7 October 1971.

Yes.

Under the Inland Revenue Ordinance, a taxpayer can claim an allowance in respect of a parent or grandparent of his/her deceased spouse. A deceased spouse means the person who remained as your spouse when he/she died. However, as you divorced your spouse before his/her death, you cannot claim Dependent Parent Allowance in respect of them.

No. You are only entitled to claim for the allowances in respect of the parents or grandparents of your principal wife. ‘Marriage’ in the context of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO) refers to a valid marriage recognized by Hong Kong law or other legal marriage recognized by the law of the place where it was entered into. Spouse refers to spouse not being a spouse living apart from the married person.

In respect of the same dependant, only one individual will be granted an allowance. You should agree with your parents and decide who claims the allowance in respect of your grandparents. You should send a written notice about the decision to the officers of the IRD for their action.

In respect of the same dependant, only one individual will be granted an allowance. As you are entitled to claim Dependent Grandparent Allowance in respect of your grandparents, your parents cannot claim any Dependent Parent Allowance or Additional Dependent Parent Allowance in respect of the same dependant.

Where more than one person is entitled to claim the allowance in respect of the same parent or grandparent for the same year of assessment, IRD will not consider the relevant claim until an agreement has been reached to decide who will claim the allowance in that year of assessment. Furthermore, where an allowance in respect of a dependent person has been granted to a taxpayer and, within 6 months of its being granted, another person claims to be entitled to the allowance, IRD will issue additional assessments, withdrawing the dependent parent allowance previously granted to that taxpayer if he is not able to reach an agreement with the other claimant within a reasonable time. At present, there is no statutory provision to apportion the Dependent Parent or Grandparent Allowance/Additional Allowance.

No. A married person is not entitled to single parent allowance even though he/she was the sole contributor to maintain the children.

Under the provisions of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, single parent is a person who is single, widowed or being a widower, or who lives apart from the spouse throughout the year and has the sole or predominant care of a child.

The allowance will not be granted for the year during which the separation or divorce takes place. For example, a couple divorced in August 2023. They will not be entitled for single parent allowance in the year 2023/24. Such allowance will only be considered as from the year 2024/25.

A claim for the Disabled Dependant Allowance can be made in the Tax Return - Individuals (Form BIR60) for the relevant year of assessment by just putting a “tick” in the appropriate boxes under the items of Married Persons, Child, Dependent Brother or Sister, Dependent Parent and Dependent Grandparent Allowance, declaring that the dependant is eligible to claim an allowance under the Government's Disability Allowance Scheme and that the taxpayer intends to claim the Disabled Dependant Allowance in respect of this dependant. IRD will not refuse the claim for the Disabled Dependant Allowance on the ground that an eligible dependant does not actually claim the Disability Allowance or the dependant opts for the Old Age Living Allowance instead of the Disability Allowance.

IRD may require the applicants to submit evidence showing that the dependants are eligible to claim an allowance under the Government's Disability Allowance Scheme on reviewing the applications. If the dependants have applied to Social Welfare Department (SWD) for the disability allowance, taxpayers can provide the file number of their dependants used in making the application. For dependants who have not claimed the disability allowance or have opted for the Old Age Living Allowance instead of the Disability Allowance, certification issued by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive, Hospital Authority or Medical Assessment Report issued by a registered medical practitioner of a private hospital is required to substantiate the dependant's eligibility for disability allowance in the relevant year. This Report should be in the same format as required by SWD in assessing the prescribed disability criteria of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme or Social Security Allowance Scheme. IRD will accept this Medical Assessment Report as evidence for the purpose of Disabled Dependant Allowance under the Inland Revenue Ordinance.

In defining ‘disability’, different certifying authorities adopt different criteria, which may be inconsistent with those under Government Disability Allowance Scheme (GDAS). For granting a disability allowance under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme or the Social Security Allowance Scheme operated by Social Welfare Department, it is a requisite condition that the applicant must be certified as disabled in accordance with the definition and requirement under those relevant schemes by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority (in special cases, a registered medical practitioner of a private hospital). IRD therefore cannot accept the certifying document issued by other authorities to replace the Medical Assessment Report issued by a registered practitioner in accordance to the requirement under GDAS as evidence to substantiate the dependant´s eligibility for government disability allowance.

You are eligible to claim disabled dependant allowance if your dependent father is eligible to claim an allowance under the Government´s Disability Allowance Scheme. Under this scheme, an applicant is eligible to claim an allowance if he/she is certified by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive, Hospital Authority (or under exceptional circumstances by a registered medical practitioner of a private hospital) to be severely disabled and his/her disabling condition will persist for at least six months.

You can browse the website of Social Welfare Department for the definition of ´severely disabled´ and the procedures of applying for the disability allowance.

A claim for the Personal Disability Allowance can be made in the Tax Return – Individuals (Form BIR60) for the relevant year of assessment by just putting a “tick” in the box for item (4) in Part 11.1 of the Tax Return – Individuals, declaring that the taxpayer is eligible to claim an allowance under the Government’s Disability Allowance Scheme and that the taxpayer intends to claim the Personal Disability Allowance.