Profits tax returns in Hong Kong: deadlines and what to file

The rhythm is predictable once you know it. Here is the whole cycle in plain language, with every date and rate taken from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and linked to the page it came from.

When returns are issued

The IRD bulk-issues profits tax returns to corporations and partnership businesses at the start of April. For the 2025/26 year of assessment, the bulk issue to "active" files took place on 1 April 2026, and "inactive" files that were due for review received theirs on 2 April 2026 [2]. The return for the 2026/27 year of assessment, the one that covers an accounting year ending between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027, is the one issued in April 2027. The IRD announces that issue date and the matching extended due dates in its block extension circular; the 2025/26 circular was issued on 19 March 2026 [3], so expect the 2026/27 one around the same point in 2027 and check it before you plan the season.

The return itself sets the clock. The notice on page 1 of a BIR51 says that all parts of the return, with any required supplementary forms, must be completed and submitted within 1 month from the date of issue [5]. Almost no one represented by a tax representative runs on that bare one-month deadline, because of the block extension scheme below. If you file yourself, with no tax representative, the one month is your deadline.

Not every business receives a return automatically. A taxpayer with an "inactive" file that receives no return can assume it is not yet due for review, but a person chargeable to tax still has to notify the Commissioner in writing within four months after the end of the basis period if it is a new business or has been told returns will no longer be issued to it annually [2].

The block extension scheme

If a tax representative acts for your company, the compliance date on the return is extended according to your accounting date. The IRD sorts every file into one of three accounting date codes, and for 2025/26 returns (issued April 2026) the dates were [2] [7]:

• Code "N", accounting date 1 April 2025 to 30 November 2025: no extension, so the 1-month deadline on the return applies.
• Code "D", accounting date in December 2025: first extended to 17 August 2026, then further extended by the IRD's circular of 14 July 2026 to 31 August 2026 for a paper return, and from 17 September 2026 to 2 October 2026 for a return filed electronically [7].
• Code "M", accounting date 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026: extended to 16 November 2026, with a further extension to 1 February 2027 available, on application, for "M" code cases showing an allowable loss.

Those are the dates for 2025/26 returns (issued April 2026), and by now they are past or close. The IRD publishes the block extension dates for 2026/27 returns in its next circular, around March 2027 (the 2025/26 circular is dated 19 March 2026 [3]), and this page will be updated then.

On top of those dates, the IRD grants a further 1 month on application if the return will be e-filed through the Business Tax Portal; the application must reach the IRD at least 7 working days before the return is otherwise due [2]. Beyond that, a further extension is granted only in the most exceptional circumstances, and a request has to be made in writing at least 14 days before the block extension expires, with an explanation and supporting evidence [2]. Telephone requests are not entertained. Some groups no longer have the paper option at all: see who must e-file a profits tax return.

This is why so many Hong Kong companies choose a 31 December or 31 March year-end: it buys months of breathing room. The scheme is not available to a corporation in liquidation, and since April 2026 tax representatives must submit block extension applications electronically through the Tax Representative Portal [2] [3].

Tracking your profits tax return

Three things tell you where a return stands and when it is due. The first is the date of issue printed on the return: the notice on page 1 of a BIR51 gives 1 month from that date [5]. A business that e-files may receive a Notice to File in the message box of its BTP Business Account instead of a paper return, and that Notice gives 2 months from its date of issue [2].

The second is your accounting date code, if a tax representative acts for you. For 2025/26 returns (issued April 2026), code "N" returns filed on paper were due on 4 May 2026, code "D" returns on 31 August 2026 on paper or 2 October 2026 filed electronically, and code "M" returns on 16 November 2026 [2] [7]. Ask your representative which code the IRD holds for you, since a change of accounting date had to be notified to the IRD [2].

The third is the record of what you filed. After an electronic submission, save or print the Acknowledgement, and use the "Tax Position" service of the Business Tax Portal to view the return submitted electronically and keep a copy [8]. A paper return leaves no such online record, so keep your own copy and proof of the date it went in.

Two-tiered rates and connected entities

Since the year of assessment 2018/19, corporations pay 8.25% on assessable profits up to $2,000,000 and 16.5% on the rest, and unincorporated businesses pay 7.5% and 15% [1]. Every entity with profits chargeable to profits tax qualifies, with one important exception: if an entity has one or more connected entities at the end of its basis period, the two-tiered rates apply only to the one that is nominated [4].

The nominated entity makes the election by declaring it in its profits tax return, and the election is irrevocable for that year; a different connected entity may elect for a different year [4]. An entity with no connected entity still declares that in its return, which for convenience it can do simply by declaring that it is chargeable at the two-tiered rates [4]. If you own two companies, or a company and a sole proprietorship, decide which one elects before either return goes in.

Your first return as a new company

The IRD generally issues the first profits tax return some 18 months after the date of incorporation (or the date a partnership business commenced), and a taxpayer receiving its first return may submit it within 3 months from the date of issue without applying for an extension [2]. Where circumstances warrant, the IRD may instead issue a Provisional Profits Tax Return earlier [2].

The catch: your first return covers everything since day one, so if the books were not kept as you went, the first filing season becomes an archaeology project. Eighteen months of bank lines, receipts and invoices have to be matched and classified before an auditor can even start, and the audit has to be finished before the return can go in.

What accompanies the return

The BIR51 lists the "Supporting Documents" you must prepare [5]:

• a certified copy of the Statement of Financial Position (balance sheet), the Auditor's Report where Hong Kong or foreign law requires one or one has otherwise been prepared, and the Statement of Comprehensive Income (profit and loss account) for the basis period;
• a tax computation with supporting schedules showing how the assessable profits (or adjusted loss) were arrived at; and
• other documents and information specified in the Notes to the return.

If you had gross income during the basis period, you must submit all the Supporting Documents together with the return [5]. For corporations, the IRD expects audited financial statements with the return in all cases with gross income, with narrow exceptions such as dormant companies [2]. The assessable profits or adjusted loss on the return must match the tax computation and be the figure for the current year only, every amount must be in Hong Kong dollars without cents, and the return must carry the latest 6-digit industry code of the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification [2].

Filing the return, step by step

1. Close the books for the basis period. Who: the company, through whoever keeps its books. By when: as soon after the accounting date as you can, because the audit cannot start until the ledger is closed and reconciled.
2. Prepare the financial statements and have them audited. Who: the directors approve them; the company's auditor issues the Auditor's Report. By when: early enough to leave time for the tax computation before the due date [2] [5].
3. Prepare the tax computation. Who: the company or its tax representative. By when: alongside the audit; it reconciles accounting profit to assessable profit, and its figure is the one that goes on the return [2].
4. Receive the BIR51 (corporation) or BIR52 (partnership). Who: the IRD issues it. By when: the 2025/26 returns were issued on 1 April 2026; a first return arrives some 18 months after incorporation [2]. No return and newly chargeable? Notify the IRD within four months after the end of the basis period [2].
5. Confirm your due date. Who: the company or its tax representative. By when: on receipt. Unrepresented, it is 1 month from the date of issue [5]; represented, it is the block extension date for your "N", "D" or "M" code [2]; for e-filing, apply for the extra month at least 7 working days before the due date [2].
6. Make the two-tiered rates election or declaration. Who: the company, in the return. By when: when you file; only one connected entity in a group may elect for a year [4].
7. Sign and file the return with the Supporting Documents. Who: the company, or a service provider it engages, who must then be named in the declaration, with Form IR1476 [2]. By when: the due date from step 5.

If you miss the deadline

Where returns are not lodged by the extended due date, the IRD issues estimated assessments or institutes penalty proceedings, and taxpayers who persistently file late are almost certain to face penalty action [2]. Failing to furnish a return in time without reasonable excuse is an offence under section 80(2) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, subject to a fine of $10,000 and a further fine of treble the amount of the tax undercharged, and the court may order the return to be furnished within a specified time [6]. In place of prosecution, the IRD may assess additional tax under section 82A, up to treble the tax undercharged [6].

An estimated assessment is the IRD's own estimate of your profits, which is rarely in your favour, and it is payable unless you object in time. The cheapest way to handle a profits tax return is to have the books already closed and correct when the return arrives.

How Suma handles this

Suma is accounting software, not a tax filer. It keeps the records a profits tax return is built from, so the audit and the computation start from closed books rather than a shoebox:

• Double-entry books with 4-digit account codes, where every edit is a void and a re-create, so the history behind each figure stays visible to the auditor.
• A bank feed through Finverse that brings business bank lines into the books as they happen.
• Receipts and documents vaulted against the books, so each entry can be traced to its source document.
• A year-end pack exported to our partner CPA firm, with more than 40 years in practice, under a hash the server computes, so the firm can show the pack it worked from is the pack that was sent.
• A filed year locked against edits, so the figures behind the return cannot drift after it is filed.
• Auditor questions answered on your request desk, line by line, with the receipt attached.

Frequently asked questions

When is the profits tax return deadline in 2026?

For 2025/26 returns (issued April 2026), the return was due within 1 month of issue [5]. With a tax representative, "N" code accounts had no extension, "M" code accounts were extended to 16 November 2026, and loss-making "M" code cases could apply for 1 February 2027 [2]. "D" code accounts were extended to 31 August 2026 on paper, or 2 October 2026 if filed electronically [7]. The IRD publishes the 2026/27 dates around March 2027, and this page will be updated then.

How do I track my profits tax return?

Start from the date of issue on the return, since a BIR51 is due within 1 month of it [5]. With a tax representative, your accounting date code sets the date instead: for 2025/26 returns, 4 May 2026 for code "N" on paper, 31 August 2026 on paper or 2 October 2026 electronically for code "D", and 16 November 2026 for code "M" [2] [7]. A return you e-file can be viewed afterwards through the "Tax Position" service of the Business Tax Portal [8].

How do I get a profits tax return extension?

Appoint a tax representative: represented taxpayers get the block extension date for their accounting date code automatically, and the IRD assumes block extension requests are approved unless it says otherwise [2]. For a further 1 month, apply to e-file the return through the Business Tax Portal at least 7 working days before it is due [2]. Anything beyond that needs a written request at least 14 days before the extended date, with evidence, and is granted only in the most exceptional circumstances [2].

What is a connected entity for the two-tiered profits tax rates?

Two entities are connected if one controls the other or both are controlled by the same entity, and a sole proprietor's other sole proprietorships are connected too; control generally means more than 50% of the shares, voting rights, or capital or profits [4]. If an entity has connected entities at the end of its basis period, only the one nominated to be chargeable at the two-tiered rates gets 8.25% (or 7.5%) on its first $2,000,000; the rest pay 16.5% or 15% on everything [4]. Only one connected entity can elect for a given year of assessment [4].

Does a small company have to attach audited accounts to its profits tax return?

Yes, if it had gross income in the basis period. The return says you must submit all the Supporting Documents, including the certified balance sheet, the Auditor's Report and the tax computation, with the return [5], and the IRD expects audited financial statements from corporations in all cases with gross income, except narrow cases such as dormant companies [2]. Company size does not change that.

General information current as of 24 October 2026. This is not tax, legal or accounting advice. Deadlines and rates change, and the 2026/27 block extension dates are published by the IRD around March 2027 and this page will be updated then; confirm the current position with the IRD or a licensed practitioner.