Freelancing in HK?

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  1. #1

    Freelancing in HK?

    Hey all,

    Will be making the move to HK from UK very soon, just thought "fcuk it, let's do it!"

    I'm a web designer and was planning on starting off with freelance or contract work in the beginning as there's a better degree of flexibility and freedom which will enable me to enjoy HK more! My question is, how do the taxes work and is there anything I need to declare as a freelancer/contracter? I have an HK id, will this help? Any other issues to consider??

    Thanks in advance


  2. #2

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    What type of HK ID card?


  3. #3

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    As LT says - what type of HKID? If you mean that you are a HK Permanent Resident then no more Immigration requirements for you, and your spouse (if legally married) can get a Dependant Visa with no employment restrictions if they aren't a HK PR. If you're not a HK PR (i.e. it's just an old ID card from when you previosuly worked here) then you can't do this legally from an Immigration point of view without a visa which allows you to work, and they are not easy to get as a freelancer. You'd need something like a QMAS or CIES visa.

    From a tax point of view, you must register your business (if freelancing that generally means as a "Sole Proprietor" business which just takes a few few minutes and, currently, $450 per year. You need to produce accounts and complete your tax return with the relevant figures. If your revenue is over HK$500,000/year you need to get the accounts audited. Tax as a Sole Proprietor is, roughly, 15% on profits above your personal allowances, which would currently be HK$216,000 for a married couple with no kids and no mortgage. So if, for example, your profit for the year was $316,000 then you would pay about HK$15,000 in tax.

    Last edited by PDLM; 04-11-2009 at 09:21 AM.

  4. #4

    Thanks to PDLM and Load Toad! That is exactly the kinda information I was after. I have a HK permanent residence but have no stars if that makes any difference?

    Starting off, I’ll only be targeting small projects so doubt that I’ll reach that threshold. Where can I register for this sole proprietorship?

    Regarding tax, I will also be looking at taking on projects from the UK still, so any idea on whether I will be accountable for UK or HK tax? And to complicate matters further, in the new year I will probably look for a permanent job as well as freelancing on the side so tax will be a complicated issue... Or is this a question for my accountant?

    Thanks for your help so far, very useful! Actually, one more question on the off-chance that someone might have an idea... what’s the market like for a freelance web designer in HK? I’ve personally noticed that HK websites are pretty poor in comparison to the west so hopefully this will work in my favour!


  5. #5

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    If you do the work in Hong Kong then you are liable for HK Tax, not UK tax. Tax in HK is really very simple indeed - you don't need an accountant if all you have is a salary and/or a freelance business.

    Details of registering for a Sole Proprietorship business here: Businesses Registration

    The no stars just means (more or less) you aren't a Chinese citizen. If you haven't visited at least once every 36 months since you left HK then when you arrive you will get sent to Immigration to be downgraded to "Right to Land" which is essentially the same with 3 exceptions:
    1) You can't vote
    2) You can be deported for serious offences
    3) Any kids born here would not get Right of Abode automatically and would need Dependant Visas.


  6. #6

    Strange, I usually head back to HK every year or 2 and my parents are both HK citizens. With this in mind, how easy will it be to get one of those China entry cards? China definitely has a part to play in my future plans!

    But thanks for the website link! Quite possibly the worst website I've ever seen... maybe I'll submit a redesign proposal when I head over to Wan Chai to sort it out! Cheers!


  7. #7

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    If you don't have *** then you can't - you'll need a visa. The only alternative is to renounce whatever citizenship you hold now and take Chinese citizenship. But if you've never had a break of more than 36 months between visits then you will keep Right of Abode, and with that you should be able to get a 3 year multi-entry visa.

    Be wary of the expat "everything in HK is crap and I know so much better" approach. It's not a good way to win friends and influence people here.

    Personally I find all the HK Government websites perfectly functional and containing all the info one might need. The day anyone puts any Flash on their will be a very sad day indeed.


  8. #8

    Right, I guess I will settle into HK first before thinking about China and then enquire later on.

    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Be wary of the expat "everything in HK is crap and I know so much better" approach. It's not a good way to win friends and influence people here.
    And lol, is this how I came across to you? Fair enough and a fair comment to make... modesty is a nice thing and all but are you saying that HK-ers wont befriend me or be influenced by me if I criticize their work, even though it IS below standard? Criticism is fundamental for progression! This is probably why, very generally speaking, HK is several years behind the UK/US in terms of web design standards?

    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Personally I find all the HK Government websites perfectly functional and containing all the info one might need. The day anyone puts any Flash on their will be a very sad day indeed.
    I understand that there is a lot of local competition in the web arena but also see that HK tends to adopt trends from the west so hopefully this will bode well for people like me. It will be extremely hard if everyone thought like you, PDLM, but I never expected an easy ride in HK!

    Thanks for your help so far, you’ve been very helpful!

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by webdesigner:
    are you saying that HK-ers wont befriend me or be influenced by me if I criticize their work, even though it IS below standard? Criticism is fundamental for progression! This is probably why, very generally speaking, HK is several years behind the UK/US in terms of web design standards?
    I suspect they'll have much the same "who the hell is he to think he knows this stuff" attitude as you have displayed to that of a British computer science graduate with 10 years experience here (i.e. me).

    There are plenty of good websites here. As I said, I believe that the HK Government ones are generally far better than the equivalent UK ones (e.g. HMRC) in terms of finding things. Internet banking on my Hong Kong banks is years ahead of my UK banks. Cathay Pacific's website is far easier to use than BA's.

    I'm not sure what you regard as the more "advanced" website design, but I have a suspicion that it involves huge amounts of Flash and all that stuff. We do still have a few sites like that here, but most have realised that it's largely just clutter and moved on.

    Oh, and I think you'll find that when it comes to most things in telecoms, computing, gaming and so on it is the UK and US who strive to catch up with Asia, not the other way round.
    Last edited by PDLM; 04-11-2009 at 10:59 PM.

  10. #10

    Lol, with your earlier reaction, I kinda guessed you were a computer science guy! I’m guessing you are a back-end developer?

    But I do feel compelled to stick up for myself though... I’m primarily a front-end graphic/web designer. I like sites that are clean, aesthetic, not cluttered with flash (incidentally, I did think this was a HK thing), optimized for search engines, semantically coded with minimal front-end latency. Any web designer will look at the markup in the site you’re sticking up for and tell you it is very 90’s. Without turning this into a critique, it takes the ‘design’ out of ‘web design’, uses tables for layout, internal functions, inline styles and fails all w3c validation and accessibility standards. Fair enough, it is easy to find things and this is very important, I just think it can be improved further and made faster, better looking and to standard.

    I think you’re taking this too personally though. I never doubted HK’s computing, telecoms etc, I know it is well ahead... 3rd fastest net connection in the world etc. I merely said that the website designs were several years behind and I maintain that from what I’ve seen and researched. Please don’t take this as a personal dig, it isn’t, I’m just commenting on what’s in front of me.

    Lesson number 1. Don’t pee off a Computer science guy in HK!


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