There are always multiple ways of doing things, that's the benefit of these forums, plenty of people thinking out of the box, which is in stark contrast to a common complaint about doing things in HK...Original Post Deleted
There are always multiple ways of doing things, that's the benefit of these forums, plenty of people thinking out of the box, which is in stark contrast to a common complaint about doing things in HK...Original Post Deleted
Thank you everyone for your helpful thoughts and perspectives. The flatmate hasn't paid any deposit so I bear all the risks of the lease. So it sounds like the practical approach is to say no.
She initially suggested "simply" adding and signing her name on my lease and using that to get her rental reimbursement. I had a feeling it wouldn't be as simple as that.
A slightly different question on this. Do the inland revenue have strict rules on the relevant paperwork or is it just down to the company?
More specifically I rent the flat, have the lease and receipts but do not have the stamp duty certificate. Do the IRD care, or do they just want to see proof of an agreement?
The Company declaring your income to IRD are required to ensure proper documents are held, i.e. stamped tenancy agreement and rental receipts. The IRD have the right to request such documentation.
Update: Copied from GovHK website:
"Normal letting formalities (such as the stamping of the tenancy agreement and periodic issuance of rental receipts):
Retention of Documents
When filing your tax return, you need not attach your tenancy agreement, rental receipts or other documents that provide evidence of rental payment. Such documents, however, should be retained so that they can be provided upon request to the Assessor for review."
Last edited by Fiona in HKG; 20-04-2016 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Additional Information
So if the landlord never stamped it, I'm screwed? The IRD website is a bit vague as I could only find reference to having controls in place to establish it's been paid, but they don't specifically list exact documentation.
Special Cases
The Assessor will examine the following types of cases critically before accepting or rejecting that a place of residence has been provided by an employer:
1.an employee lets his own property to himself or rents the property from a connected person (such as spouse) and then claims rental reimbursements from his employer; or
2.an employee lets his own property or a connected person’s property to his employer and the employer provides that property to him for use as a place of residence.
In such cases, the Assessor will ask the employee and/or the employer to provide evidence showing a genuine landlord and tenant relationship exists between the contracting parties. The Assessor will take the following factors into account before making a decision:
•whether the rent is above the market rent;
•whether the normal letting formalities (such as the stamping of the tenancy agreement and periodic issuance of rental receipts) have been executed; and
•whether the ordinary rights and obligations of landlord and tenant have been observed.
Thanks. Guess I was searching in the wrong place on the IRD Website.
At the end of the day my company is insisting on a stamped agreement so even though it would seem that if the IRD requested the paperwork they would assess on a case by case basis, probably not going to help me.
I looked into backdating the stamp but appears there is a penalty for late payment involved which is quite a lot.