The Agreement between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital ("the Agreement") was formally signed on 2 November 2007.

According to Article 28 of the Agreement, this Agreement shall, upon the written notifications by both Sides of the completion of their respective required approval procedures, enter into force on the date of the later of these notifications.
For the purpose of giving effect to the Agreement, an Order was made by the Chief Executive in Council on 22 January 2008, under section 49 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. The Order was published in the Gazette as Legal Notice 18 of 2008. On 2 May 2008, Hong Kong sent a notification of the completion of the ratification procedures to Luxembourg and received a notification dated 20 January 2009 from Luxembourg confirming the completion of its approval procedures. The Agreement has therefore become effective on 20 January 2009 and shall have effect in Hong Kong, according to paragraph 2 of Article 28 of the Agreement, for any year of assessment beginning on or after 1 April 2008.

Hong Kong today signed an Agreement, in Hanoi, with Vietnam for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income. It is the first bilateral agreement for the avoidance of double taxation signed between the two sides.

The Agreement eliminates the uncertainty of tax liability for the investors and traders of both economies. It creates a more favourable bilateral business environment, and at the same time protects the legitimate tax revenue of both jurisdictions.

The Agreement will come into force after the completion of ratification procedures for both sides. In Hong Kong, an Order is required to be made by the Chief Executive in Council under the Inland Revenue Ordinance. The Order is subject to negative vetting by the Legislative Council.

The 3rd round of negotiations for an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation between Hong Kong and Kuwait was held in Hong Kong on 11 December 2008. The negotiation was conducted in a friendly, cooperative and cordial atmosphere of mutual understanding and resulted in consensus on all the provisions of the proposed agreement. It was brought to a successful conclusion with both sides agreed upon the final text and initialed the agreement. Both sides will arrange to have the agreement formally signed and put into effect as soon as possible.

The Arrangement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (including the Protocol thereto) ("the Arrangement") entered into force on 8 December 2006.

The Mainland and Hong Kong have different views on the interpretation of some of the Articles of the Arrangement. Agreement was reached on the necessary amendments and implementation rules upon negotiation on 11 September 2007. After the meeting, both Sides initialed the Second Protocol to the Arrangement and signed the exchange of letters [the letter from Hong Kong to the Mainland and the reply from the Mainland (in Chinese only)]. The latter became effective on the date of signature that was 11 September 2007 while the Second Protocol became effective on 11 June 2008.

The Second Protocol to the Arrangement between the Mainland of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income ("the Second Protocol") was formally signed on 30 January 2008.

According to Article 6 of the Second Protocol, this Protocol shall, upon the written notifications by both Sides of the completion of their respective required approval procedures, enter into force on the date of the later of these notifications.

For the purpose of giving effect to the Second Protocol, an order was made by the Chief Executive in Council on 15 April 2008, under section 49 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. The Order was published in the Gazette as Legal Notice 89 of 2008. On 26 May 2008, Hong Kong sent a notification of the completion of the ratification procedures to the Mainland and received a notification dated 11 June 2008 from the Mainland confirming the completion of its approval procedures. The Second Protocol has therefore become effective on 11 June 2008.

The 3rd round of negotiations for an agreement between Hong Kong and Vietnam for the avoidance of double taxation("Agreement") was held on 26 and 27 May 2008 in Hong Kong. The negotiation was conducted in a friendly, cooperative and constructive atmosphere of mutual understanding. Consensus was reached on all the provisions of the proposed Agreement, except that the Vietnamese Side has to seek the approval from its relevant authority on a certain technical issue. The proposed Agreement was initialed after the negotiation and both sides will endeavour to arrange for the formal signing of the proposed Agreement.