Company formation and personal taxes

[Submariner]

Hello, I am currently considering forming a company for tax purposes. In the US, certain kinds of companies allow you to deduct business expenses from your personal income. Do any HK company options (ie limited companies or sole proprietorships) allow that? Or can business expenses only be deducted from business income?

[AzureTaxHK]

Yes, business expenses are deductible in personal tax returns of HK, but business incorporation fees are not.

[Gruntfuttock]

If you have a Sole Proprietorship then basically all business expenses are tax-deductible - the essence of a Sole Proprietorship (with Personal Assessment for tax) is that your business and personal tax affairs are all bundled together.

@AzureTaxHK - could you point me at a source for "business incorporation fees are not"? I've always assumed (perhaps wrongly) that the business registration fee for a Sole Proprietorship came out of the costs of the business and was therefore "tax deductible". (Although I realise that maybe you are only referring to incorporated businesses in the strict sense, i.e. companies.)