General

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is committed to providing an efficient business registration service to enable business operators to comply with their legal obligations with ease and to facilitate members of the public to obtain business information conveniently.

Business registration is, however, not for regulating business activities. Neither is it a licence to trade.

The Business Registration Ordinance requires every person who carries on a business in Hong Kong to apply for business registration within 1 month from the date of commencement of the business, and to display a valid Business Registration Certificate at the place of business. If the registered particulars of the business have changed, the business operator has to notify the IRD in writing within 1 month of the change.

The IRD will record the information provided in the "applications for registration" and the "notifications of change" on the Business Register. The public can obtain extracts of the information on the Business Register upon payment of a fee. To enable business operators to obtain their Business Registration Certificates early and to ensure that changes in business particulars are updated to the Business Register as soon as possible, unless there are reasonable grounds for doubts to be cast, the information provided by the business operators will only be summarily checked and will not be verified before any new entry or amendment is recorded. Information on the Business Register is for reference only.