Imagine filing your Hong Kong tax return in minutes instead of days, with pre-filled data, automated calculations, and instant submission from your smartphone. This isn’t a distant future—it’s happening right now. Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is leading one of Asia’s most ambitious digital tax transformations, reshaping how businesses and individuals interact with the tax system. From multinational corporations to small family-run shops, everyone needs to understand this digital revolution that promises greater efficiency, accuracy, and transparency in tax compliance.

The New Tax Portals: Your Digital Gateway to Tax Compliance

On 22 July 2025, the IRD officially launched three fully operational New Tax Portals (NTPs), marking a watershed moment in Hong Kong’s tax digitalization journey. These portals represent a complete overhaul of the previous eTAX system, offering enhanced functionality, improved user experience, and seamless integration across different taxpayer categories.

Three Interconnected Portals for Every Taxpayer

The three-portal architecture is designed to serve every type of taxpayer with tailored functionality:

• Individual Tax Portal (ITP): A centralized platform for individual taxpayers to manage personal tax matters, including tax return filing, updating personal particulars, viewing tax positions, and accessing tax-related messages and alerts
• Business Tax Portal (BTP): A multi-user platform designed for businesses to handle tax and business affairs, supporting collaborative workflows and role-based access control for different team members
• Tax Representative Portal (TRP): Specifically tailored for tax professionals and service agents to manage multiple clients’ tax matters electronically, with enhanced features for bulk operations and client management

These portals are fully interconnected, allowing seamless data exchange and communication between taxpayers, businesses, and their authorized representatives. Existing eTAX users had their profiles automatically migrated to the ITP, ensuring continuity of service and preserving historical data.

Enhanced Security and Accessibility Features

The new portals feature a mobile-responsive design that automatically adjusts to desktops, tablets, and smartphones, providing a consistent user experience across all devices. Security has been significantly enhanced with multiple login options:

• Tax Identification Number (TIN) with password
• Digital certificate authentication
• iAM Smart and iAM Smart+ integration with biometric authentication (fingerprint or facial recognition)

The eTAX Mobile App: Tax Management in Your Pocket

Alongside the new tax portals, the IRD launched a dedicated eTAX mobile application in July 2025, enabling individual taxpayers to manage their tax affairs anytime, anywhere. This mobile-first approach reflects the growing preference for smartphone-based services and aligns Hong Kong with global best practices in digital government services.

Key Mobile App Features You Need to Know

The eTAX mobile application provides secure access through iAM Smart authentication combined with biometric verification, ensuring both convenience and robust security. Users can access a comprehensive messages box displaying tax-related messages, alerts, and personal tax information issued by the IRD in real time.

With a simple tap on the “Services” button, users can access the full suite of Individual Tax Portal services, including:

• E-filing of tax returns with automatic one-month extension beyond paper filing deadlines
• Checking tax records and assessment history
• E-stamping of documents
• Making tax payments and viewing payment history
• Updating personal information and correspondence preferences
• Accessing pre-saved deduction details for faster return filing

Mandatory E-Filing Roadmap: Your Timeline to Digital Compliance

Hong Kong’s transition to mandatory e-filing follows a carefully designed phased implementation strategy, balancing the need for digital transformation with practical considerations for businesses of different sizes and complexities. This roadmap provides clarity for taxpayers to prepare their systems, processes, and capabilities for the digital future.

Preparing for Mandatory E-Filing: Your Action Plan

To facilitate the transition, the IRD implemented voluntary e-filing of profits tax returns from 1 April 2023, allowing businesses to familiarize themselves with the system and processes before mandatory requirements take effect. This voluntary period provides valuable experience and helps identify potential challenges before they become compliance issues.

1. Register Early: Open Business Tax Portal and Tax Representative Portal accounts now, even if mandatory filing doesn’t apply to you yet
2. Learn iXBRL: Familiarize staff with iXBRL data preparation and submission processes using IRD’s free tools
3. Review Systems: Evaluate whether your current accounting software supports IRD requirements and iXBRL format generation
4. Establish Workflows: Create internal processes for electronic filing and document management
5. Test Voluntary Filing: Submit voluntary e-filings before mandatory requirements take effect to identify and address challenges
6. Invest in Training: Ensure key staff understand iXBRL concepts and filing procedures through IRD training sessions

iXBRL: The Data Standard Powering Digital Tax Compliance

Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) is the technical foundation of Hong Kong’s digital tax ecosystem. This international standard allows financial statements and tax computations to be both human-readable and machine-readable, enabling automated data processing while preserving the familiar format of traditional financial documents.

Since April 2023, taxpayers have been able to voluntarily e-file profits tax returns together with supporting documents (financial statements and tax computations) in iXBRL format. The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance 2021, enacted in June 2021, provided the legislative framework for iXBRL adoption and mandatory e-filing implementation.

Free IRD Tools to Simplify iXBRL Adoption

To facilitate iXBRL adoption, the IRD has developed and made freely available the IRD Taxonomy Package and iXBRL Data Preparation Tools. These resources significantly reduce the technical barrier to iXBRL adoption, making digital filing accessible to businesses of all sizes without requiring specialized software or technical expertise.

Pillar Two Global Minimum Tax: Implementation and Digital Infrastructure

On 6 June 2025, Hong Kong enacted the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Minimum Tax for Multinational Enterprise Groups) Ordinance 2025, implementing the OECD’s Pillar Two global minimum tax framework. This landmark legislation represents Hong Kong’s commitment to international tax cooperation while protecting its tax base.

Scope and Application of Pillar Two

HKMTT applies to in-scope MNE groups with consolidated revenue equivalent to or exceeding €750 million for at least two years out of four preceding years. The mechanism calculates the effective tax rate (ETR) for Hong Kong constituent entities and applies a top-up tax if the ETR falls below the 15% minimum threshold.

A significant development accompanying Pillar Two implementation was the introduction of a new tax residency definition. With retrospective effect from 1 January 2024, an entity is considered Hong Kong-resident if it is incorporated or constituted in Hong Kong, or if it is normally managed or controlled in Hong Kong.

Digital Infrastructure: The Pillar Two Portal

Recognizing the complexity of Pillar Two compliance, the IRD is developing a dedicated Pillar Two Portal to facilitate submission of notifications and returns. The portal will launch in phases:

Enhanced Features and User Experience Improvements

Pre-Filled Deduction Data: Your Time-Saving Advantage

One of the most user-friendly enhancements in the new tax portals is the pre-save deduction feature. Taxpayers can save deduction details such as charitable donations, Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions, and other recurring deductions, which are then automatically pre-filled in future tax returns. This innovation reduces manual data entry, minimizes errors, and streamlines the filing process for returning taxpayers.

Enhanced Document Management Capabilities

The new portals significantly expand document handling capabilities:

• Increased Upload Capacity: Taxpayers requesting amendments to provisional tax or assessments can upload up to 5 supporting documents with a total file size up to 200MB
• IR56 Filing Expansion: The IR56 e-filing tool capacity has expanded from 800 to 2,000 records per file, with employers able to upload up to 5,000 records in a single submission
• Electronic Block Extension Scheme: Full adoption of electronic block extension starting from April 2026, streamlining extension requests for tax representatives handling multiple clients

Automatic Filing Extensions

Filing through eTAX typically grants taxpayers an automatic one-month extension beyond the paper filing deadline, providing additional time to prepare accurate returns while reducing the risk of late filing penalties. This built-in incentive encourages digital adoption while supporting better compliance.

Implementation Challenges and Practical Considerations

Digital transformation of this scale requires significant change management efforts. Businesses face several implementation challenges that need proactive attention:

• Technical Skills Gap: Staff may require training on new systems, iXBRL tagging, and digital workflows
• System Integration: Existing accounting systems may need upgrades or replacements to support iXBRL generation
• Process Redesign: Traditional paper-based workflows must be reimagined for digital environments
• Data Quality: Digital filing requires more rigorous data validation and quality control
• Resource Allocation: Initial implementation demands time and resources that may strain smaller businesses

Looking Ahead: The Future of Tax Innovation in Hong Kong

While current initiatives focus on establishing robust digital infrastructure, future innovations may include artificial intelligence for personalized tax advice, blockchain for tamper-proof audit trails, natural language processing for automated interpretation of tax legislation, and predictive analytics for forward-looking tax planning.

By 2030, when full-scale mandatory e-filing is achieved, Hong Kong’s tax ecosystem is expected to feature fully integrated digital workflows from business transactions to tax filings, real-time visibility into tax positions, personalized taxpayer services powered by data analytics and AI, and seamless international data exchange supporting global tax coordination.

Hong Kong’s digital tax transformation represents more than just a technological upgrade—it’s a fundamental reshaping of how businesses and individuals interact with the tax system. Those who embrace these changes early will benefit from smoother transitions, reduced compliance costs, and enhanced capabilities for tax planning and management. The IRD has provided the tools, timelines, and support necessary for successful adoption. As Hong Kong positions itself as a leading international financial center, its sophisticated digital tax infrastructure will become a competitive advantage—attracting investment, supporting business growth, and ensuring efficient, fair tax administration for the benefit of all stakeholders.