Expiry of the Revenue (Reduction of Business Registration Fees) Order 2010

The Revenue (Reduction of Business Registration Fees) Order 2010 will expire on 1 August 2011. For any business or branch registration certificates which commence on or after that date¹, the prescribed business registration fee or the prescribed branch registration fee, as the case may be, will be payable together with the levy. Please refer to the business registration fee & levy table for details of the total amount payable under a certificate.

It is anticipated that there will be an upsurge in demand for new business registration services in July 2011. In order to obtain your business registration certificate smoothly, please pay attention to the following important notes –

Companies

Since the commencement of the Business Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2010 on 21 February 2011, any persons applying for company incorporation are deemed to have applied for business registration simultaneously. Therefore, applicants only need to apply to the Companies Registry for both company incorporation and business registration.

For the measures to handle the anticipated upsurge of applications for company incorporation and business registration in July, please refer to the circular email issued by the Companies Registry.

Other businesses (sole proprietorship, partnership, etc.)

You shall register your business or branch of business carried on in Hong Kong within 1 month from the date of commencement of business. Where you are required to submit your application in July 2011, please submit your application by electronic means or by mail as far as possible. If you have to submit your application in person, you are encouraged to come to the Business Registration Office during the non-peak hours from 8:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. so that your application can be processed promptly. If you commence a business / branch in July 2011, and submit the business / branch registration application within one month from the commencement date, i.e. in August 2011, you would still have the exemption of the business / branch registration fee and are only required to pay the levy.

The Business Registration Office will not accept any application for registration in respect of a business or branch of business which has never commenced or existed. Any person who submits false information in his application for business registration shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine of $5,000 and to imprisonment for 1 year.

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1. The relevant date for determining the business registration fee payable by an applicant for company incorporation under the one-stop company and business registration regime is the date of submission of the related incorporation application to the Companies Registry.