Written by Bertrand Théaud, Founder
20+ years in Asia as a corporate lawyer, investor, and fintech founder. I've sat on both sides of the table and seen the same avoidable mistakes hit founders again and again. The reviews and articles I write are for founders who'd rather skip the mistakes.
Key Takeaways
Hong Kong has no VAT, GST or sales tax, and a limited company pays profits tax at 8.25% on its first HKD 2 million of assessable profits.
Filed online, a private limited company normally receives its Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate within an hour, and government fees total HKD 3,895.
The Inland Revenue Department sets two rules for online stores: match the store name to your Business Registration Certificate and register a physical business address.
Server or warehouse location doesn’t decide whether profits are taxed in Hong Kong, because the Inland Revenue Department looks at where the profit-earning work happens.
Registering a Hong Kong company is the quickest part of starting an ecommerce business here. File online and the certificates normally arrive within an hour.
That sounds backwards for a guide like this. But the questions that decide whether your store works come later. Can your payment gateway pay out to your company account? Will your supplier in Shenzhen accept a transfer from it? Is the profit from an order you never touched in Hong Kong actually taxed here? And which name does your Shopify store need to trade under?
Get those wrong and a company that took an afternoon to set up takes months to untangle.
This guide walks through each step in the order you'll actually do it, from structure and registration to payments, tax, shipping and the filings you'll owe every year. At Statrys, we've incorporated over 1,600 companies, and most of the problems I see in ecommerce setups start with one of the steps below.
Step 1: Choose Your Business Structure
Most ecommerce founders in Hong Kong register a private limited company. It limits your personal liability and allows 100% foreign ownership with no local partner. You can also bring in investors or partners later without restructuring.
A sole proprietorship is faster and cheaper to run if you're testing a product at very small scale. The catch is unlimited personal liability: if the business owes money, so do you.
If you sell across borders or plan to bring in a partner, start with a limited company. Switching later means setting up a new entity and moving your contracts and accounts across to it.
To set up a private limited company, you need:
- At least one director who is an individual, of any nationality, with no Hong Kong residency requirement
- At least one shareholder, who can be the same person as the director
- A company secretary, who must be either an individual ordinarily resident in Hong Kong or a company with its registered or principal office in Hong Kong
- A registered office address in Hong Kong
One rule catches solo founders out: if you're the only director, you can't also be the company secretary. That's why most foreign founders appoint a licensed corporate service provider as secretary.
Step 2: Register Your Company in Hong Kong
The Companies Registry says that for a private company limited by shares filed electronically, the certificates are normally issued within one hour of submission. Paper filings take about four working days.
These are the government fees for applications made from 1 April 2026:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Incorporation fee (Form NNC1, filed electronically) | HKD 1,545 |
| Business Registration fee and levy (1-year certificate) | HKD 2,350 |
| Total government fees | HKD 3,895 |
If you'd rather pay for three years of business registration upfront, the Inland Revenue Depart (IRD's) fee table puts the 3-year certificate at HKD 6,170.
Once approved, you receive a Certificate of Incorporation and a Business Registration Certificate (BRC). The BRC must be renewed every year or every three years, depending on which certificate you chose.
The one-hour figure covers the government's part. Gathering identity documents and completing your provider's own checks takes longer, which is why most providers quote a few working days end to end. With Statrys, companies are typically up and running within 5 working days.
Two Rules That Apply Specifically to Online Stores
The Inland Revenue Department's guidance on internet businesses sets two rules that online sellers often miss:
- Your store name must match your BRC. The business name you use on a marketplace or your own store must be the one shown on your Business Registration Certificate. If you want to trade under a separate brand, you can register an additional business name, which is treated as a branch.
- Your business address must be physical. A website link or an email address can't be registered as your business address.
If you start as a sole proprietor, you register directly with the IRD's Business Registration Office within one month of starting the business.
Step 3: Check Whether Your Products Need a Licence
Most goods sold online in Hong Kong don't need a specific licence. A few categories do, and they're the ones founders tend to discover after their first shipment is held.
- Restricted foods. Selling restricted foods online, such as dairy products or non-bottled drinks, needs a permit from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), even if you have no shop. Since 1 January 2025, a Composite Restricted Foods Permit lets you sell several restricted foods through one premises or online platform.
- Dutiable commodities. Hong Kong charges excise duty on four types of goods: liquor with an alcoholic strength above 30% by volume (wine, beer and weaker liquor are charged at 0%), tobacco, certain hydrocarbon oil and methyl alcohol. Customs and Excise handles the licences and permits for importing them.
- Product descriptions. The Trade Descriptions Ordinance applies to online sales in the same way as to shops, so claims about a product's origin or quality on your product pages need to be accurate.
- Customer data. The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance governs how you collect and use your customers' personal data, including for marketing emails.
If your catalogue includes food, supplements, cosmetics, electronics with batteries or anything regulated in your buyers' countries, check those rules before you list the product, not after.
Step 4: Open a Business Account
You need a business account in your company's name before you connect a payment gateway, receive payouts from your platform or pay suppliers.
You have two main options, and many ecommerce companies end up using both.
Banks
- Full banking services, including trade finance and lending
- Expected by some larger buyers and institutional partners
- The opening process varies by bank and by your owners' residency, and may include a video call or branch visit
- Monthly fees often apply below a minimum balance, so check each bank's published charges
Multi-Currency Business Accounts
- Opened online, usually without a branch visit
- Many have no minimum balance
- Hold and convert several currencies, such as USD, EUR, GBP and CNY, in one account
- Built for receiving payouts from payment platforms and paying overseas suppliers
For most ecommerce founders, a multi-currency account is the practical starting point. You can keep marketplace and gateway payouts in the currency they arrive in, then convert when you need to pay a supplier, instead of converting every receipt as it lands.
Statrys is licensed as a Money Service Operator in Hong Kong and opens multi-currency business accounts for companies registered in Hong Kong, Singapore and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Statrys isn't a bank. For an ecommerce company, the parts that matter most are:
- Receive in 11 currencies and send in 18
- Payouts from Stripe, PayPal and Shopify
- FX fees from 0.1% on major currencies
- Local HKD, CNY and USD payments received in Hong Kong for free, and HKD or CNY payments sent locally for HKD 5
- Local currency account details in six markets (UK, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Liechtenstein and Australia), so buyers or platforms there can pay you like a local business
- A dedicated account manager on every account
Statrys does not charge a monthly fee. An inactivity fee of HKD 88 applies in any month with fewer than five outgoing payments. See the Statrys pricing page for the full fee schedule.
Step 5: Choose Your Ecommerce Platform
Your platform decides which payment gateways and shipping integrations you can plug in, and how much technical work lands on you.
| Platform | Suitable For | Pricing (Approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Most founders; fastest to launch | From USD 29/month billed yearly (USD 39 monthly) |
| WooCommerce | WordPress users who want full control | Free plugin; hosting costs apply |
| BigCommerce | Growing stores that want multi-currency features built in | From USD 39/month |
| SHOPLINE | Sellers focused on Hong Kong and Greater China buyers | Contact for pricing |
| Magento / Adobe Commerce | Large catalogues with ERP needs | Enterprise pricing |
You don't have to start with your own store. Marketplaces such as HKTVmall for local buyers, or Amazon for overseas ones, let you sell without building a site, in exchange for commission and less control over the customer relationship.
Whichever you pick, set up the store under the same business name as your BRC (see Step 2).
Step 6: Set Up Payment Gateways
Hong Kong shoppers pay differently from most Western markets, and the checkout options you offer affect how many of them finish the order.
According to Worldpay's Global Payments Report 2026, as reported by Fintech News Hong Kong, digital wallets made up 41% of Hong Kong ecommerce value in 2025, ahead of cards at 36%. The same report expects account-to-account payments, such as FPS, to reach 23% of ecommerce value by 2030.
The gateways and methods worth knowing:
- Stripe / Shopify Payments: the default for most founders. Supports cards and wallets such as Apple Pay, and works with most major platforms.
- AsiaPay / PayDollar: an established Hong Kong gateway with local payment coverage, better suited to sellers targeting Hong Kong buyers.
- PayPal: important for international buyers, particularly first-time customers who don't know your brand yet.
- AlipayHK and WeChat Pay HK: wallets serving Hong Kong consumers. They're different from the mainland versions, so confirm which one your gateway supports.
- FPS (Faster Payment System): instant HKD and CNY transfers. More common for higher-value orders and B2B sales than for consumer checkout, but increasingly supported by local platforms.
Learn more: our guide to payment methods in Hong Kong covers each option in detail, and our guide to the best payment gateways in Hong Kong compares providers.
Step 7: Understand Hong Kong Taxes for Ecommerce
Hong Kong has no VAT, no GST and no sales tax. You don't charge customers a consumption tax on orders and you don't file VAT returns, whether the buyer is in Hong Kong or overseas.
The tax on your business income is profits tax, charged under a two-tier system:
| Assessable Profits | Limited Company | Sole Proprietorship |
|---|---|---|
| First HKD 2,000,000 | 8.25% | 7.5% |
| Above HKD 2,000,000 | 16.5% | 15% |
If you own more than one business, only one of the connected entities can use the lower tier in a given year.
Where Your Profits Are Earned Matters More Than Where Your Server Sits
Hong Kong taxes only profits that arise in or are derived from Hong Kong. Many ecommerce founders assume that if their server or warehouse is abroad, their profits are offshore. The IRD doesn't see it that way.
In its practice note on the digital economy and ecommerce (DIPN 39), the IRD says the location of the server alone doesn't determine where profits arise. It looks at the core operations that earned the profit, such as sourcing products, negotiating with suppliers, running the store and making decisions, and where the people doing them are based.
So if you run the business from Hong Kong, expect your profits to be taxed in Hong Kong, even if every order ships from a warehouse in Shenzhen. If you genuinely run everything from outside Hong Kong, you may be able to claim your profits are offshore, but the claim isn't automatic: you make it in your profits tax return and back it with evidence. Our guide to offshore tax exemption covers what the IRD asks for.
🔎 Resource: want to check where you stand? Take our offshore eligibility quiz.
Filing and Record-Keeping
A new company usually receives its first profits tax return around 18 months after incorporation. Don't wait for it to start your books.
The IRD requires you to keep records of income and expenditure, in English or Chinese, for at least 7 years after the transactions they relate to. For a store with hundreds of orders a month, that means exporting platform, gateway and account data regularly, not reconstructing it at year-end.
If you'd rather not handle this yourself, Statrys offers accounting and bookkeeping services in Hong Kong for companies with a Statrys business account.
Step 8: Set Up Shipping and Logistics
Hong Kong has strong logistics infrastructure, with competitive rates for Asia-Pacific and global shipping.
| Carrier | Best For |
|---|---|
| DHL Express | International express with strong coverage and real-time tracking |
| FedEx | International express, particularly to the US |
| UPS | International express, with strong European routes |
| Hongkong Post / EMS | Lower rates for lighter parcels; slower than express |
| SF Express | Mainland China and the Greater Bay Area |
| Kerry Express | Hong Kong and Southeast Asia |
How you fulfil orders matters as much as who carries them:
Self-fulfilment works at low volumes. You hold the stock and pack every order yourself.
Third-party logistics (3PL) providers store your stock and ship orders for you. They’re worth it once order volume justifies the cost, and many offer same-day delivery for Hong Kong orders.
Dropshipping means your supplier ships directly to the customer. No inventory to hold, but less control over delivery times and quality.
Marketplace fulfilment, such as Amazon's fulfilment service, has the marketplace store and ship your stock, for a fee per unit.
Hong Kong is a free port and doesn't charge customs tariffs on imports or exports. The exception is excise duty on the four dutiable commodities covered in Step 3. Your buyers' countries apply their own import rules and duty thresholds, so check them for your main markets before you set prices.
What You'll File Every Year
Once the store is running, a Hong Kong limited company has a fixed set of yearly obligations:
| Obligation | Who Handles It | When |
|---|---|---|
| Annual return (Form NAR1) | Companies Registry | Within 42 days of your incorporation anniversary (HKD 105 if on time) |
| Business Registration renewal | IRD | Every year, or every three years |
| Audited financial statements | Prepared by a practising CPA | Every financial year |
| Profits tax return | IRD | First return around 18 months after incorporation, then yearly |
- Check whether any of your products need a licence or permit
Business Account and Payments
- Open a multi-currency business account in the company's name
- Set up your primary payment gateway (for example, Stripe or Shopify Payments)
- Add local options such as AlipayHK, WeChat Pay HK or FPS if you sell to Hong Kong buyers
- Add PayPal for international buyers
Platform and Store
- Choose your platform or marketplace
- Set up the store under the business name on your BRC
- Configure shipping zones, rates and fulfilment method
- Test checkout end to end with each payment method
- Set up order management and inventory tracking
Tax and Compliance
- Appoint an accountant or accounting service
- Set up accounting software connected to your platform and account
- Keep records for at least 7 years after each transaction
- Diarise your annual return date and BR renewal
- Work out early whether an offshore claim could apply
Logistics
- Choose carriers based on your target markets and parcel weights
- Negotiate rates once your order volume justifies it
- Check import rules and duty thresholds in your main markets
- Set up a returns process, which matters especially for EU customers under consumer protection rules
Register Your Company and Open Your Account With Statrys
Every step above depends on two things being in place: a properly registered company and an account that can receive your platform payouts and pay your suppliers.
Statrys handles both. Our Hong Kong incorporation package, at a standard price of HKD 8,750 for the first year, covers the filing, a company secretary, a registered address and help with your business account application, and you can manage it all online from your company portal. Statrys Corporate Services Limited is licensed as a Trust or Company Service Provider by the Companies Registry.
If you're ready to set up, start with Hong Kong company registration and we'll take it from there.
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FAQs
Do I Need to Register a Company to Sell Online in Hong Kong?
You need to register your business, but not necessarily as a company. Anyone carrying on a business in Hong Kong, including through the internet, must hold a Business Registration Certificate, and a sole proprietor applies within one month of starting. Most ecommerce founders incorporate a private limited company instead, because it limits personal liability and makes it easier to work with overseas suppliers and partners. A limited company receives its Business Registration Certificate at the same time as its Certificate of Incorporation.
How Long Does It Take to Set Up an Ecommerce Business in Hong Kong?
Most founders can be operational within two to three weeks. Filed online, a private limited company normally receives its certificates within an hour, although preparing documents and completing a provider's checks typically takes a few working days. Opening a multi-currency business account usually takes a few more days; 96% of Statrys clients opened their accounts within 3 business days. Building a Shopify store with payment gateways configured can take one to two weeks, depending on your catalogue and design.
Is There Sales Tax or VAT on Ecommerce Sales in Hong Kong?
No. Hong Kong has no VAT, GST or sales tax, so you don't charge customers a consumption tax on orders, whether the buyer is in Hong Kong or overseas. The tax that applies is profits tax: for a limited company, 8.25% on the first HKD 2 million of assessable profits and 16.5% above that. Your buyers' countries may still apply import duties or VAT on goods arriving there.
Are My Ecommerce Profits Taxed in Hong Kong if My Server or Warehouse Is Overseas?
Usually yes, if you run the business from Hong Kong. The Inland Revenue Department says the location of a server alone doesn't determine where profits arise. It looks at the core operations that earned the profit, such as negotiating with suppliers and running the store, and where they're carried out. So a Shenzhen warehouse doesn't make Hong Kong-run profits offshore. If you run the business entirely from abroad, you can make an offshore claim in your profits tax return, backed by evidence.
Can a Foreigner Start an Ecommerce Business in Hong Kong?
Yes. Hong Kong allows 100% foreign ownership of private limited companies, and directors and shareholders don't need to live in Hong Kong or hold a visa to own the company. You'll need a company secretary who is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong or a Hong Kong-based company, and a registered office address in Hong Kong. If you're the sole director, you can't also act as the company secretary, which is why most foreign founders use a licensed corporate service provider.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Regulatory requirements and product features change, so confirm the details with the relevant provider or authority before you act.
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