Hong Kong Certificate of Resident Status 2026: IRD Criteria, the Application Process and Claiming Benefits under the Mainland China CDTA

A Certificate of Resident Status (CoR) is the document the Hong Kong competent authority issues to a Hong Kong resident who needs proof of residence in order to claim benefits under a Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreement or Arrangement (CDTA). Since 12 June 2023 the Inland Revenue Department has decided applications purely on the plain definition of "resident of Hong Kong" in the relevant agreement, without separately assessing economic substance. The certificate is free, the target processing time is 21 working days, and a single application can cover up to three calendar years.

⚠ The limitation most often overstated. The IRD warns expressly that issuing a certificate does not guarantee a successful claim to treaty benefits. Whether relief from foreign taxes is granted is ultimately for the treaty partner to decide — and it is the partner that tests beneficial ownership and commercial purpose. The 2023 simplification moved the substance test from the certificate stage to the claim stage abroad; it did not remove it.

What the Certificate of Resident Status is for

A Certificate of Resident Status is a document issued by the competent authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to a Hong Kong resident who requires proof of resident status for the purposes of claiming tax benefits under a Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreement or Arrangement.

The certificate should constitute sufficient proof of the resident status of a Hong Kong resident. Treaty-related forms not issued by the Inland Revenue Department are generally not signed or stamped — the forms of Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg are the exception.

The competent authority issues a certificate only after the agreement between Hong Kong and the relevant jurisdiction has become effective. Generally, only one certificate is issued in respect of each agreement for each year.

⚠ The certificate is not available "for other purposes". The IRD answers this directly in its official FAQ: an applicant who does not need to claim treaty benefits but wants a certificate for something else — a bank, a counterparty, a registrar — will not be issued one. The certificate exists solely as an instrument for applying a CDTA.

A CoR therefore cannot evidence residence to a bank or a foreign counterparty; those needs are met by the certificate of incorporation, the business registration certificate or audited accounts. The annual document cycle is set out in Mandatory Annual Compliance for Hong Kong Companies 2026.

Who can apply: five categories

The IRD sets out five categories of person who can generally apply for a certificate.

•     an individual who ordinarily resides in Hong Kong;

•     an individual who stays in Hong Kong for more than 180 days during a year of assessment, or for more than 300 days in two consecutive years of assessment one of which is the relevant year of assessment;

•     a company, partnership, trust or body of persons incorporated or constituted in Hong Kong;

•     a company, partnership, trust or body of persons incorporated or constituted outside Hong Kong but managed or controlled in Hong Kong;

•     a re-domiciled company.

An applicant should refer to the relevant article and protocol of the relevant agreement to check whether it qualifies as a Hong Kong resident for the purposes of that particular agreement.

That qualification is decisive and usually lost in commentary: the IRD list is an administrative guide, while the decision turns on the specific CDTA. Residence definitions are not identical across the network — some follow the OECD "liable to tax" formulation, others use a list of criteria, as the Mainland Arrangement does.

What changed on 12 June 2023

Before June 2023 the IRD assessed two elements: whether the applicant was a "resident of Hong Kong" and whether it had an "entitlement to tax benefits". The second amounted in practice to an economic substance test.

The Department revisited its approach to issuing certificates in the context of strengthened international tax cooperation and a changing business environment. The process is now adjusted so that the decision is based on the plain definition of "resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" in the relevant agreement.

The change took effect on 12 June 2023, and the application forms were revised at the same time.

The practical effect is that for an entity incorporated in Hong Kong, a certificate under most agreements has become procedurally straightforward — with no assessment of the level of economic substance and no request for detailed information about its operations.

⚠ The qualification absent from every commentary. The simplification does not extend to entities incorporated outside Hong Kong. For them Form IR1313A still requires Part 1 of the Appendix — an eleven-item questionnaire on management and control. The claim that "substance is no longer tested since 2023" holds only for Hong Kong-incorporated companies and re-domiciled companies.

⚠ Simplification is not an exemption from substance. The same change formalised the administrative facilitation measures for applications engaging the Circular of the State Taxation Administration on Matters Concerning "Beneficial Owners" in Tax Treaties (STA Circular 2018 No. 9) — in other words, it built the Mainland beneficial ownership test into the form itself. The threshold did not disappear; it moved.

The re-domiciled company: a new category of applicant

Hong Kong's re-domiciliation regime, introduced in 2025, created a distinct category of applicant, and the IRD has set specific requirements for when it can apply.

A re-domiciled company may apply after it has completed the re-domiciliation procedure — including fulfilling the deregistration requirements from its place of incorporation as defined by the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) — as required by the Companies Registry of Hong Kong.

The company must submit with the application form a copy of the certificate of re-domiciliation and a copy of the document evidencing deregistration from its place of incorporation.

Evidencing deregistration abroad is the bottleneck: months can pass between entry on the Hong Kong register and issue of that document, and until it exists an application is premature. It drives the whole treaty timetable in a relocation.

The regime's core limitation bears repeating: Hong Kong re-domiciliation is inward only. A Hong Kong company cannot transfer its domicile out — see Closing a Hong Kong Company. The corporate side of a transfer and the subsequent certificate application are handled by UPPERSETUP legal services.

Appendix Part 1: the management and control questionnaire

Part 1 of the Appendix to Form IR1313A must be completed where the applicant was incorporated or established outside Hong Kong — other than a re-domiciled company. Its eleven items amount to a full examination of where central management and control is exercised.

•     confirmation whether all income is passive income or derived outside Hong Kong;

•     the place where the business is normally carried on and the nature of the activities in each territory or country, with the business address of the establishment in each;

•     a table of staff numbers and their respective duties for each territory or country;

•     the business commencement date in Hong Kong, confirmation that it matches the date reported to the Business Registration Office and the date of establishment of the place of business reported to the Companies Registry, with reasons for any mismatch;

•     where no employer's return has been filed, a list of staff employed in Hong Kong with names, identity card numbers and total remuneration for each calendar year;

•     the place where management and control was exercised for each calendar year and, where there was more than one location, an indication of the territory of central management and control;

•     for each director, partner, trustee or principal officer — nationality, residential address, key responsibilities and the place where the duties were performed;

•     for each meeting of directors, partners, trustees or the supervisory body held during the calendar years — the date, the names of those who attended, the place of the meeting and a description of the matters discussed and the resolutions passed;

•     full details of how, where and by whom the formulation of strategic policies, determination of business directions, setting of work plans, decisions on the mode of financing, implementation of management policies and evaluation of business performance were carried out;

•     the principal bankers in Hong Kong and the total number of bank accounts maintained there;

•     the nature of the permanent establishment maintained in Hong Kong and the value of fixed assets and cash at bank per the statement of financial position at the end of the last reporting period.

A re-domiciled company does not complete Part 1 of the Appendix: the form expressly carves it out of the category required to supply this questionnaire.

⚠ A consequence of re-domiciliation that is rarely priced in. Transferring domicile to Hong Kong moves a company out of the "foreign entity with a full management and control questionnaire" regime into one where that questionnaire is not required at all. For structures that have spent years evidencing central management in Hong Kong, that is an argument for re-domiciliation in its own right, quite apart from the corporate considerations.

The eighth item — particulars of every board meeting with the resolutions passed — is the heaviest in practice: it assumes minutes were kept and record the substance rather than a formality. Building the corporate file to that standard is work for UPPERSETUP legal services.

What every applicant is asked for

The main body of Form IR1313A is common to all applicants and contains several blocks completed regardless of where the entity was incorporated.

Beyond the years of claim and the applicant's particulars, the form asks for the nature and amount of income for each year, the name and address of the beneficial owner of the income, the applicant's Mainland tax identification number and the Mainland in-charge tax authorities.

The form requires a staff table across three categories — directors, partners and trustees; senior management personnel; other staff — split between persons with a fixed place of residence in Hong Kong and persons residing outside Hong Kong or without a fixed place of residence in Hong Kong.

Substance data is therefore collected even from a Hong Kong company, although the issuing decision does not rest on it — and the data travels: the applicant declares that it may be disclosed to the Mainland tax authorities.

A separate block covers the previous certificate: the calendar year for which resident status was certified, and details of material changes in business operations after that year. That is the direct mechanism for policing the three-year validity period.

⚠ The form carries an express warning that heavy penalties may be incurred under section 80(2D) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance for giving incorrect information. The declaration is signed by a named officer stating the position held.

The four application forms

The form is chosen on two axes: the type of applicant and the treaty partner. All four forms are current in the 07/2025 edition.

Treaty partner	Company, partnership, trust, body of persons	Individual
Chinese Mainland	IR1313A (07/2025)	IR1314A (07/2025)
Other jurisdictions	IR1313B (07/2025)	IR1314B (07/2025)

⚠ Check the edition before filing. Many publications and adviser templates still point to the 06/2023 edition released when the approach changed. The current edition is 07/2025; filing a superseded form costs a re-submission cycle.

Where the claim relates to tax benefits on dividends falling within Article 3 or Article 4 of STA Circular 2018 No. 9, Part 2 of the Appendix to Form IR1313A must be completed and the guidelines in Note 3 of the form followed.

Supporting documents and who signs

The attachments and the authorised signatory both depend on the applicant's legal form, and are set by Notes 5 and 6 to Form IR1313A.

Type of applicant	Documents to attach	Signatory
Company	A copy of the certificate of incorporation and, if any, a copy of the certificate of change of name	Director, secretary or manager
Re-domiciled company	A copy of the certificate of re-domiciliation, a copy of the document evidencing deregistration from its place of incorporation as defined by the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and, if any, a certificate of change of name	Director, secretary or manager
Partnership (other than LPF)	A certified true copy of the partnership agreement and the particulars of each partner for the calendar years of claim: name, identity card or business registration number, address	Precedent partner
Limited partnership fund	A copy of the certificate of registration and, if any, a copy of the certificate of change of name	General partner, authorized representative under the Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance (Cap. 637) or investment manager
Trust	A certified true copy of the trust deed	Trustee
Body of persons	A certified true copy of the constitution	Principal officer

Documents need not be re-submitted where a copy has already been provided in another application and the applicant gives the reference number of that application in the form.

That shortcut matters for groups filing in sequence: quoting the earlier reference materially reduces the pack.

How to apply: online, by post or in person

Three channels are available, and since 2025 the online channel has become the principal route for the Mainland agreement.

The applicant or its appointed service agent — a company secretary or tax representative — can complete and submit the application through the Individual Tax Portal (ITP), the Business Tax Portal (BTP) and the Tax Representative Portal (TRP) under the eTAX services on the GovHK website.

Paper applications go to: Assessor (Tax Treaty), Tax Treaty Section, Inland Revenue Department, 17/F, Inland Revenue Centre, 5 Concorde Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The portals support four operations: filing an application, filing supplementary information, viewing submissions from the last 3 years, and making or answering enquiries.

Replies to Department enquiries go through the "Submission of Supplementary Information" function, which accepts up to 10 files of up to 20MB each in JPG, JPEG, PNG or PDF format.

One detail for sole proprietors: an application in respect of a sole proprietorship business is made through an ITP account, not through a BTP business account.

Timing, cost and the three-year application rule

The procedure is free of charge, and the processing target sits in the Department's performance pledge.

No fee is payable for a Certificate of Resident Status.

The Department's target is to issue, within 21 working days of receiving a properly completed application, either a certificate or a notification of the assessing officer's decision — seeking further information or informing the applicant that the application cannot be accepted.

One application can cover, at most, three calendar years of claim.

This should not be confused with the three-year validity of a certificate under the Mainland arrangement — two different constructs whose shared number is coincidental. One concerns how many years an application may cover; the other, how long an issued certificate is accepted in the Mainland.

The digital certificate: what changed on 10 November 2025

From late 2025 the paper certificate has been replaced by a digital one under the Mainland agreement — the first agreement moved to digital format.

The competent authority of Hong Kong issues a digital Certificate of Resident Status instead of a paper certificate to successful applicants claiming benefits under the Mainland agreement, with effect from 10 November 2025.

The digital certificate is a PDF sent to the message inbox of the applicant's ITP or BTP account. A non-individual applicant without a business registration number downloads it through the BTP using an access code, entering its file number and the code.

The access code is valid for 90 days; the digital certificate must be downloaded within 90 days of the date the code is issued.

The digital certificate is never sent to a personal email address — only to the ITP or BTP account.

Verification sits in a separate government service: the treaty partner can upload the digital certificate to the "e-Proof" portal to confirm its authenticity.

⚠ A technical detail that derails timetables. The built-in PDF viewers of some browsers, Google Chrome among them, may not display the certificate's digital signature. The IRD advises downloading the file locally and opening it in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Sending the partner a file whose signature does not render invites rejection.

For all other jurisdictions the certificate is still issued on paper and sent by post. Collection in person is possible but requires a written request when the application is submitted.

Why the certificate does not guarantee the benefit

The separation between resident status and entitlement to benefits is the heart of the topic, and the IRD states it plainly.

Applicants should be aware that issue of a certificate will not guarantee that they will be successful in their claim to benefits under the relevant agreement. The decision as to whether relief from foreign taxes can be granted is ultimately one to be made by the treaty partner.

The partner determines whether the conditions are fulfilled. The usual grounds for refusal abroad are failure of the beneficial ownership test, a principal purpose rule, and insufficient substance in the recipient.

Where Hong Kong residents believe a treaty partner has denied them benefits to which they should be entitled, the competent authority of Hong Kong will consider engaging with the partner under the Mutual Agreement Procedure for the relevant agreement.

The Mutual Agreement Procedure is real rather than notional, but it takes time and does not substitute for building the position at the structuring stage. Refusal risk abroad is best assessed before the application, not after.

The Mainland China Arrangement: structure and five protocols

The Mainland Arrangement is the most heavily used instrument in Hong Kong's network and the only one framed as an "Arrangement", reflecting the constitutional position of the parties.

The Arrangement was signed on 21 August 2006, entered into force on 8 December 2006 and applies from the year of assessment 2007/2008.

The earlier arrangement of 11 February 1998 ceased to have effect once the 2006 Arrangement began to apply to the relevant taxes; references to the 1998 text in current material are wrong.

Instrument	Signed	Entered into force	Applies from
Main text	21.08.2006	08.12.2006	Year of assessment 2007/2008
Second Protocol	30.01.2008	11.06.2008	11.06.2008
Third Protocol	27.05.2010	20.12.2010	20.12.2010
Fourth Protocol	01.04.2015	29.12.2015	29.12.2015
Fifth Protocol	19.07.2019	06.12.2019	Year of assessment 2020/2021

Under paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the Fifth Protocol, its provisions apply in Hong Kong to income derived in years of assessment beginning on or after 1 April 2020, and in the Mainland to income derived in taxable years beginning on or after 1 January 2020.

The mismatch follows from the two sides' different tax years and matters when identifying which version applies to a period.

The residence definition in Article 4

Article 4 defines residence differently for each side, and the Hong Kong limb is built not on a "liable to tax" test but on a closed list of four criteria.

For the Mainland, a resident is any person who under Mainland law is liable to tax there by reason of domicile, residence, place of establishment, place of effective management or any other criterion of a similar nature. Persons liable to tax in the Mainland only on Mainland-source income are excluded.

For Hong Kong, a resident is:

•     an individual who ordinarily resides in Hong Kong;

•     an individual who stays in Hong Kong for more than 180 days during a year of assessment or more than 300 days in two consecutive years of assessment one of which is the relevant year of assessment;

•     a company incorporated in Hong Kong, or if incorporated outside Hong Kong, being normally managed or controlled in Hong Kong;

•     any other person constituted under the laws of Hong Kong, or if constituted outside Hong Kong, being normally managed or controlled in Hong Kong.

Incorporation in Hong Kong is a standalone criterion and requires no proof of management and control. The management or control requirement applies only to persons incorporated or constituted outside Hong Kong.

That explains why, after June 2023, a Hong Kong-incorporated company obtains a Mainland certificate so easily: the plain definition is satisfied by incorporation alone.

Dual residence: different rules for individuals and companies

The Arrangement contains two fundamentally different mechanisms for resolving dual residence, and the corporate one is markedly harsher.

For an individual the familiar cascade applies: permanent home; where a home is available on both sides, the centre of vital interests; where that cannot be determined or no permanent home is available on either side, habitual abode; and where there is an habitual abode on both sides or neither, resolution by mutual agreement of the competent authorities.

For a person other than an individual there is no automatic tie-breaker. The competent authorities of both sides endeavour to determine the side of residence by mutual agreement, having regard to the place of effective management, the place of incorporation or constitution and any other relevant factors.

⚠ The consequence of failure is stated in Article 4 bluntly: in the absence of such agreement, the person is not entitled to any relief or exemption from tax provided by the Arrangement, except to the extent and in the manner the competent authorities may agree. This wording came in with the Fifth Protocol; for structures showing signs of management from the Mainland, dual residence risk means the risk of losing benefits altogether rather than being assigned to the more favourable side.

For Hong Kong holdings with Mainland beneficial owners, where board meetings are held, where decisions are taken and where records are kept must be arranged deliberately. The adjacent question of place of management is covered in The Offshore Profits Claim in Hong Kong.

Rates under the Mainland Arrangement

The Arrangement caps the withholding tax the Mainland may charge on income of a Hong Kong resident.

Type of income	Maximum rate	Condition
Dividends	5%	The beneficial owner is a company directly owning at least 25% of the capital of the paying company
Dividends	10%	In any other case
Interest	7%	The beneficial owner is a resident of the other side
Interest	Exempt	Received by the government of the other side or other institutions mutually recognised by the competent authorities
Royalties	7%	General rule
Royalties	5%	Royalties paid to an aircraft and ship leasing business (Fourth Protocol)

The threshold for the reduced dividend rate is direct ownership of at least 25% of the capital. Indirect ownership does not count for this purpose.

Under Article 13, gains on shares or comparable interests — including partnership and trust interests — may be taxed in the other side where, at any time in the three years before the alienation, they derived more than 50% of their value directly or indirectly from immovable property there. Gains on other shares may be taxed there where, within the 12 months before the alienation, the recipient held directly or indirectly at least 25% of the capital.

Under Article 21, where the recipient company controls at least 10% of the shares of the paying company, the credit extends to the tax paid by the paying company on the profits out of which the dividends were paid.

The 2016 administrative arrangement: three years of validity

A special procedure applies to the Mainland agreement and materially reduces how often a certificate has to be obtained.

Under the administrative arrangement agreed in the notes exchanged between the Mainland and Hong Kong on 16 March 2016 and 15 April 2016, a certificate issued to an applicant for a particular calendar year generally serves as proof of Hong Kong resident status for that calendar year and the two succeeding calendar years.

It is not necessary for the applicant to apply for a certificate for the latter two calendar years. Note 2 to Form IR1313A gives a worked example: where a certificate has been issued for calendar year 2020, applications for 2021 and 2022 would not be necessary.

The "one certificate good for three years" rule applies solely to the Mainland agreement and does not extend to Hong Kong's other agreements.

⚠ The condition attached. Where there are or were changes in the applicant's circumstances such that it will cease or has ceased to meet the conditions for enjoying benefits under the Arrangement, the certificate issued does not serve as proof of Hong Kong resident status after those changes. A change of place of management, a change in ownership or ceasing activity in Hong Kong cuts the three-year period short, and monitoring that is the taxpayer's own responsibility.

No equivalent exists elsewhere: a certificate is applied for in the ordinary way for each year claimed, with up to three years per application.

STA Circular 2018 No. 9: the beneficial ownership test

Dividend benefits in the Mainland carry a separate layer of requirements, imposed not by the Arrangement but by an internal instrument of the PRC State Taxation Administration.

Where the claim relates to dividends falling within Article 3 or 4 of STA Circular 2018 No. 9, Part 2 of the Appendix to Form IR1313A is completed following the guidelines in Note 3 of the form.

Formalising that process inside the form is the second half of the 2023 reform. Previously the relevant information was supplied as separate documents; now it is embedded in the application.

Note 4 to Form IR1313A defines the beneficial owner: where the applicant's right to use and enjoy the income is constrained by a contractual or legal obligation to pass the payment on to another person, the applicant is not the beneficial owner and the name and address of the actual beneficial owner must be given. An agent, nominee or conduit company acting as a fiduciary or administrator is not regarded as the beneficial owner.

The bundling mechanics: the applications of the lead applicant and the co-applicants are submitted together in a bundle. Any applicant other than an individual may be designated lead applicant; it supplies the information requested in item 14 of the Appendix and acts as the primary point of contact for all applicants. The lead applicant and each co-applicant complete their own form.

Despite Article 3 of the circular — under which the immediate recipient of dividends is deemed the beneficial owner in specified conditions — the form still requires the name and address of the person holding directly or indirectly 100% of the equity interest in the immediate recipient and who is the beneficial owner determined under Article 2 of the circular.

Part 2 runs to three items: a tick for the applicable article — 3(1), 3(2) or 4; the name, address and Hong Kong business registration number of the lead applicant; and, from the lead applicant, a chart of the structure showing that the immediate recipient's equity is directly or indirectly 100% owned by the beneficial owner, or by government, a listed company or an individual, with the interest at each level.

For each person in the chart other than the lead applicant and co-applicants, the name and address and the place and date of incorporation must be given; where Article 3(2) or Article 4 applies, identifiers are added — the Hong Kong business registration number, the registration number in the place of incorporation, the identity card or passport number with issuing country, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange stock code where applicable, and the jurisdiction of residence.

Any change in the equity interest of any person in the chart during the 12 consecutive months before the dividends were or are to be received must be confirmed and detailed.

A note on confidence. The requirements above come from the current IRD form and its notes — a primary source. The substantive constructs of the circular itself — the "safe harbour rule", the "same jurisdiction rule" and the "same treaty benefit rule" — were not verified against the primary text: the circular is published by the PRC State Taxation Administration in Chinese only, and the IRD states expressly that questions on its content should be put to the relevant Mainland tax authorities.

Obtaining the certificate in Hong Kong and passing the beneficial ownership test in the Mainland are two sequential tasks, best prepared in parallel; the documentary side is handled by UPPERSETUP accounting services.

The principal purpose test and anti-avoidance provisions

The Fifth Protocol inserted Article 24A into the Arrangement — a principal purpose test meeting the BEPS minimum standard.

Notwithstanding the other provisions of the Arrangement, a benefit is not granted in respect of an item of income if it is reasonable to conclude, having regard to all relevant facts and circumstances, that obtaining that benefit was one of the principal purposes of any arrangement or transaction that resulted directly or indirectly in it — unless it is established that granting the benefit in those circumstances would accord with the object and purpose of the relevant provisions.

"One of the principal purposes" is materially wider than "the sole" or "the dominant": it is enough that the tax advantage was among the main motives.

Article 25 separately preserves each side's right to apply its domestic laws and measures concerning tax avoidance, whether or not described as such.

Together, Articles 24A and 25 mean that even a flawlessly obtained certificate does not protect a structure lacking commercial purpose — further confirmation that the 2023 simplification did not soften the substantive requirements.

The MLI and synthesised texts

Some agreements are modified by the multilateral convention, and for those the agreement alone is not enough.

China signed the MLI on 7 June 2017 and deposited with the OECD its instrument of approval covering Hong Kong's agreements on 25 May 2022. The MLI entered into force for China, including Hong Kong, on 1 September 2022.

The convention takes effect in Hong Kong by order under section 49 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Which modifications apply, and when, depends on the reservations and notifications of Hong Kong and the partner.

The Mainland Arrangement is not modified by the convention: it already contains provisions implementing the BEPS measures, so those measures are not delivered through the MLI.

For covered agreements the IRD publishes synthesised texts showing when and how they are modified — available for Russia, the UAE, the United Kingdom, Japan, India and others. Such texts are not a source of law: only the authentic texts of the agreement, its protocols and the convention have legal force.

Hong Kong's treaty network: 51 in force, 8 signed

As at August 2026 Hong Kong has concluded comprehensive agreements with 59 jurisdictions, of which 51 have entered into force and 8 are signed and awaiting completion of procedures.

Signed but not yet in force: Barbados (19.03.2026), Cyprus (12.06.2026), Jordan (04.09.2025), Kyrgyzstan (02.03.2026), the Maldives (26.05.2025), Nigeria (13.07.2026), Norway (16.12.2025) and Rwanda (09.10.2025).

Several positions in the network matter most to businesses operating across the UAE, Hong Kong and the CIS.

Jurisdiction	In force from	Applies from	Dividends	Interest	Royalties
Chinese Mainland	08.12.2006	YA 2007/2008	5% / 10%	7%	5% / 7%
Russia	29.07.2016	YA 2017/2018	0% / 5% / 10%	—	3%
United Arab Emirates	10.12.2015	YA 2016/2017	5%	5%	5%
Kyrgyzstan	Not in force	Pending	5% / 10%	8%	8%
Cyprus	Not in force	Pending	—	—	3%

⚠ There is no agreement between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan — neither in force nor signed. Structures linking Kazakhstan and Hong Kong have no treaty relief available, and taxation is governed entirely by the domestic law of both jurisdictions. That sets the Kazakhstan route apart from the Mainland, Russian and UAE routes.

A dash in the interest column means the agreement provides for no withholding tax on that category. The full rate table with footnotes is maintained by the IRD. Cross-jurisdiction structuring is covered in Kazakhstan + UAE: the Dual Structure.

A ten-step plan for obtaining a certificate

•     Step 1. Confirm there is an agreement in force. A certificate is issued only after the agreement with the relevant jurisdiction has become effective; without one the application will be refused.

•     Step 2. Test yourself against the residence definition in the specific agreement, not just the general IRD list. A company incorporated outside Hong Kong will need to establish management and control here.

•     Step 3. Pick the right form: IR1313A or IR1314A for the Mainland, IR1313B or IR1314B for other jurisdictions, edition 07/2025.

•     Step 4. If re-domiciled, wait until the procedure is complete and attach the certificate of re-domiciliation and the evidence of deregistration abroad.

•     Step 5. If the company was incorporated outside Hong Kong, complete Part 1 of the Appendix — eleven items on management and control, including particulars of every board meeting. Re-domiciled companies are exempt from this part.

•     Step 6. For Mainland dividend claims, complete Part 2 of the Appendix following Note 3, and submit the lead applicant's and co-applicants' applications as a single bundle.

•     Step 6. Cover up to three calendar years in one application where benefits are claimed for several periods.

•     Step 7. File through the ITP, BTP or TRP and track the Department's enquiries; reply through the supplementary information function.

•     Step 8. Allow 21 working days for processing, and expect that a request for further information extends the period in practice.

•     Step 9. For the Mainland, download the digital certificate within 90 days of the access code being issued and confirm the signature renders in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

•     Step 10. Monitor changes in circumstances: if the conditions for treaty benefits cease to be met, the three-year Mainland validity ends early.

Common mistakes and what they cost

•     Treating the certificate as a guarantee of relief. The IRD warns expressly that the partner decides. A structure resting on the certificate alone, without work on beneficial ownership and commercial purpose, will not survive a refusal abroad — and the withholding tax will already have been deducted.

•     Requesting a certificate for non-treaty purposes. It is issued solely to support a treaty claim; a request "for the bank" or "for a counterparty" is refused and the time is lost.

•     Filing the 06/2023 edition. All four forms are current in the 07/2025 edition. A superseded form means re-filing and a fresh processing cycle.

•     Confusing three years per application with three years of validity. The first is an administrative convenience available for any jurisdiction; the second is the Mainland-specific regime under the 2016 notes, and it holds only while circumstances are unchanged.

•     Applying as a re-domiciled company before the deregistration document is issued in the former jurisdiction. The filing is incomplete and the treaty timetable slips.

•     Ignoring corporate dual residence risk. Where the competent authorities reach no agreement, the person loses entitlement to any relief under the Arrangement rather than being assigned the better side.

•     Sending the partner a digital certificate without checking the signature. Browser PDF viewers may fail to render the digital signature; the file should be opened in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

•     Counting on the reduced dividend rate with indirect ownership. The 25% threshold in the Mainland Arrangement is framed as direct ownership of capital.

•     Assuming substance is no longer tested at all since 2023. For a company incorporated outside Hong Kong, Part 1 of the Appendix demands particulars of every board meeting, the place of central management and control, the bankers and the value of assets. The simplification reaches only Hong Kong-incorporated and re-domiciled companies.

•     Filing multi-tier holding applications separately. Where Article 3 or 4 of the circular applies, the lead applicant's and co-applicants' applications go in as one bundle; filing them apart breaks the structure.

•     Treating the declaration as a formality. The form warns expressly of heavy penalties under section 80(2D) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance for incorrect information, and the data may be disclosed to the Mainland tax authorities.

Who needs specialist review, and when

A Hong Kong-incorporated company claiming benefits on a straightforward income stream can manage the process in-house: the form is completed from the facts and the certificate issues within the standard period.

Review is warranted in five situations: Mainland dividend claims, where the beneficial ownership test sits on top of the certificate; companies incorporated outside Hong Kong, which must complete the Part 1 questionnaire; signs of dual residence with the Mainland, where failure to agree means losing benefits entirely; re-domiciliation, where the filing date depends on two jurisdictions; and structures where the tax advantage might be one of the principal purposes under Article 24A.

Where a structure is still on the drawing board, treaty access is cheaper to solve at the incorporation stage: UPPERSETUP company registration services cover the corporate side, and the mechanics are set out in Hong Kong Company Registration.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Hong Kong Certificate of Resident Status cost?

No fee is payable. Costs arise only where a tax representative or company secretary is engaged to prepare and file the application.

How long does it take to obtain a certificate?

The Department's target is 21 working days from receipt of a properly completed application. Within that period it issues the certificate or notifies the applicant that further information is sought or that the application cannot be accepted.

Can a company incorporated outside Hong Kong obtain a certificate?

Yes, if it is managed or controlled in Hong Kong. For a Hong Kong-incorporated company, incorporation alone is sufficient and management and control need not be established.

How long is a certificate valid under the Mainland agreement?

A certificate issued for a particular calendar year generally serves as proof of resident status for that year and the two succeeding calendar years, under the administrative arrangement agreed in the notes of 16 March 2016 and 15 April 2016. If circumstances change so that the applicant ceases to meet the conditions for treaty benefits, the certificate stops serving as proof from that point.

Does a certificate guarantee that treaty benefits will be granted?

No. The Inland Revenue Department states expressly that issue of a certificate does not guarantee a successful claim: the treaty partner decides, testing all the relevant conditions. Where benefits are wrongly denied, the Hong Kong competent authority will consider engaging with the partner under the Mutual Agreement Procedure.

What is the digital certificate and when does it apply?

It is a PDF file delivered to the message inbox of an ITP or BTP account instead of a paper document. Under the Mainland agreement it has been issued since 10 November 2025. The download access code is valid for 90 days, and the partner verifies authenticity on the e-Proof portal.

Can a certificate be obtained where there is no agreement with the country concerned?

No. The competent authority issues a certificate only after the agreement between Hong Kong and the relevant jurisdiction has become effective. There is no agreement between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan as at August 2026.

How many years can one application cover?

One application can cover, at most, three calendar years of claim.

Does a foreign-incorporated company still have to evidence substance after the 2023 reform?

Yes. A company incorporated outside Hong Kong completes Part 1 of the Appendix to Form IR1313A: eleven items covering the place of central management and control, every board meeting with the resolutions passed, staff, principal bankers and the value of assets. Only re-domiciled companies are exempt from that part.

Key takeaways

•     Since 12 June 2023 the IRD decides applications on the plain residence definition in the relevant agreement, without a separate economic substance assessment.

•     Five categories may apply, including a re-domiciled company — after completing the procedure and attaching the certificate of re-domiciliation and evidence of deregistration abroad.

•     The current forms are IR1313A and IR1314A for the Mainland and IR1313B and IR1314B for other jurisdictions, edition 07/2025.

•     The certificate is free, the processing target is 21 working days, and one application covers up to three calendar years.

•     Under the Mainland agreement a digital certificate has been issued since 10 November 2025; the access code lasts 90 days and authenticity is verified through e-Proof.

•     A certificate issued for a calendar year covers that year and the two following ones under the Mainland arrangement, while circumstances remain unchanged.

•     Issue of a certificate does not guarantee relief: the treaty partner decides, and disputes run through the Mutual Agreement Procedure.

•     Where a company is dual resident and the competent authorities do not agree, no relief under the Arrangement is available at all.

•     Hong Kong's network as at August 2026: 51 agreements in force and 8 signed; there is none with Kazakhstan.

•     A company incorporated outside Hong Kong completes Part 1 of the Appendix — an eleven-item management and control questionnaire; a re-domiciled company is exempt from it.

•     Giving incorrect information in the application attracts penalties under section 80(2D) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance.

Summary

A Certificate of Resident Status is issued by the competent authority of Hong Kong to confirm resident status for claiming benefits under a Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreement or Arrangement. Since 12 June 2023 the Inland Revenue Department decides on the plain definition of "resident of Hong Kong" in the relevant agreement. Five categories may apply: an individual ordinarily residing in Hong Kong; an individual staying more than 180 days in a year of assessment or more than 300 days across two consecutive years of assessment; a company, partnership, trust or body of persons incorporated in Hong Kong; the same persons incorporated outside Hong Kong but managed or controlled there; and a re-domiciled company, after completing re-domiciliation and submitting the certificate of re-domiciliation with evidence of deregistration abroad. Forms IR1313A and IR1314A cover the Chinese Mainland and IR1313B and IR1314B other jurisdictions, all in the 07/2025 edition, filed through the ITP, BTP and TRP portals, by post or in person. No fee is payable, the processing target is 21 working days, and one application may cover at most three calendar years. Under the Mainland agreement a digital certificate has been issued since 10 November 2025, the access code is valid for 90 days, and authenticity is verified on the e-Proof portal. Under the notes of 16 March 2016 and 15 April 2016, a certificate for a calendar year serves as proof for that year and the two succeeding calendar years while circumstances are unchanged. The Mainland Arrangement was signed on 21 August 2006, entered into force on 8 December 2006, applies from the year of assessment 2007/2008 and has five protocols; the Fifth entered into force on 6 December 2019 and applies in Hong Kong from years of assessment beginning on or after 1 April 2020. Maximum rates are 5% on dividends where the beneficial owner directly holds at least 25% of the capital and 10% otherwise, 7% on interest, and 7% on royalties with 5% for aircraft and ship leasing. A company incorporated outside Hong Kong additionally completes Part 1 of the Appendix to Form IR1313A — an eleven-item questionnaire on the place of central management and control, board meetings, staff, bankers and assets; a re-domiciled company is exempt from that part. Where dividend benefits are claimed under Article 3 or 4 of STA Circular 2018 No. 9, Part 2 of the Appendix is completed and the lead applicant's and co-applicants' applications are submitted as one bundle. Issue of a certificate does not guarantee that benefits will be granted: that decision rests with the treaty partner. Giving incorrect information attracts penalties under section 80(2D) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. As at August 2026 Hong Kong has 51 agreements in force and 8 signed, and none with Kazakhstan.

Sources

•     Inland Revenue Department — Certificate of Resident Status — categories of applicant, forms, timing, digital certificate

•     Inland Revenue Department — FAQ on the Certificate of Resident Status — re-domiciled companies, three years per application, the 90-day access code

•     Inland Revenue Department — press release on the revision of the application forms from 12 June 2023

•     Form IR1313A — application for companies, partnerships, trusts and bodies of persons (Chinese Mainland)

•     Form IR1314A — application for individuals (Chinese Mainland)

•     Form IR1313B — application for companies, partnerships, trusts and bodies of persons (other jurisdictions)

•     Form IR1314B — application for individuals (other jurisdictions)

•     Consolidated text of the Arrangement between the Mainland of China and Hong Kong — Articles 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21, 23, 24A and 25

•     The administrative arrangement under the 2016 exchange of notes

•     Inland Revenue Department — comprehensive double taxation agreements concluded

•     Inland Revenue Department — tax rates for dividends, interest, royalties and technical fees

•     Inland Revenue Department — the Mainland agreement and its protocols

•     e-Proof portal for verifying digital certificates

•     Inland Revenue Department — user guide for filing an application through the new tax portals

•     EY Hong Kong Tax Alert — the launch of digital certificates of resident status (November 2025)

•     STA Circular 2018 No. 9 on the PRC State Taxation Administration website (Chinese only)

Disclaimer

This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, investment or consulting advice. Before making decisions, obtain individual professional advice taking account of your specific circumstances, jurisdiction, company status and current regulatory requirements. Information is accurate as of August 2026.