Overview of Hong Kong's Tax Exemption Regimes for Funds and Common Tax Issues

Overview

It has been the Hong Kong SAR government’s intention to develop Hong Kong into a world-class asset management centre in the region. Preferential tax treatment is one of the incentives to promote this industry. The first offshore fund tax exemption regime was introduced in 2006 to provide profits tax exemption to offshore funds investing into listed securities. The exemption law was extended in mid-2015 to cover certain private equity investments. Following the introduction of the open-ended fund companies (OFC) regime under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) No. 2 Ordinance was passed in March 2018 to provide tax exemption for onshore funds. With the rapid development of the asset management industry in Hong Kong and the post BEPS environment, what are the risk areas for fund managers and the investors from a tax perspective?

Content

This seminar will discuss the recent tax developments on the asset management industry in Hong Kong, in particular:-

Overview of the Hong Kong tax exemption regimes for funds;
Common tax issues for fund managers and investors;
Case sharing of common pain points;
Outlook of the latest tax development for the asset management industry.

Who should attend

Fund managers, asset managers and investors who would like to have a better understanding of the tax issues impacting off-shore funds and onshore funds.

Financial Incentive Scheme of the WAM Pilot Programme

This is one of the eligible courses / seminars / conferences under the Financial Incentive Scheme (“The Scheme”) of the WAM Pilot Programme.

Eligible in-service practitioners of the financial services industry could apply for reimbursement of 80% of the course fees, subject to a maximum of HK$7,000 (whichever is lower) upon satisfactory completion of a course / seminar / conference over the three-year period of the Scheme.

Each individual may apply for reimbursement for more than one course / seminar / conference.

Application to reimburse the course fees, together with the required documents, must be submitted within four months from the last day of the course / seminar / conference attended. Please refer to the WAM Pilot Programme website for more details.

Speaker/Course Instructor

Agnes CHEUNG

Agnes has over 20 years of professional experiences gained from international accounting firms. She focuses on tax issues related to group restructuring, merger and acquisition and other cross-border transactions. Agnes also has extensive experiences in advising asset management firms including private equity, venture capital and hedge funds on structuring and tax issues, including field audit and tax investigation by the Inland Revenue Department. Agnes has been a frequent contributor to the development of tax industry. She was heavily involved in lobbying the Hong Kong Government on the new offshore fund and onshore fund law. She was a technical reviewer for Wolters Kluwer’s Hong Kong Master Tax Guide from 2008 to 2016. She is currently a member of the Taxation Faculty Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, as well as fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.

Details

Code

ESOTH18092001

Date & Time

Thursday, 20 Sep 2018 (12:20PM - 1:20PM)

Venue

HKSI Institute Training Centre