Hong Kong — Taxes

One of the world’s cleanest tax regimes Hong Kong taxes on a strictly territorial basis: only income arising in Hong Kong is taxed. Salaries tax is capped at a 17% standard rate, profits tax is 16.5%, and there is no capital gains tax, no VAT, no tax on dividends or interest, and no estate duty. For internationally mobile capital, few places are simpler.

CIES is residence, not a passport The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme grants residence to an applicant investing HKD 30 million in permissible assets — financial assets and non-residential property, plus HKD 3 million into a CIES Investment Portfolio. Residential property does not count. The visa is renewable while the investment is held.

The seven-year rule Permanent residence is not granted at entry. It requires seven years of continuous ordinary residence — genuinely living in Hong Kong. Only after that can you apply for permanent residence and, separately, an HKSAR passport. Judge CIES as a residence and financial base, with permanent status as a medium-term horizon.

Residency, tax residence and duties elsewhere Hong Kong’s territorial system already limits what it taxes, but holding the visa does not remove obligations to a country that taxes on citizenship, such as the United States, nor does it settle where you are tax-resident. Compare it with the residence route of Thailand and the zero-tax Gulf option of the UAE, read our tax hub and residency hub, and see how each figure is checked in our methodology.