New legislation raises the tax rate to 6.5% for luxury homes exceeding HKD 100 million, with retroactive application from 26 February 2026.Â
The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department announced, on 20 May 2026, that the government has welcomed the approval of the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2026 by the Legislative Council on 20 May 2026.
The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2026 has provisions to increase the stamp duty rate for residential property transactions with an amount or value of consideration (whichever is higher) above HKD 100 million from 4.25% to 6.5% with effect from 26 February 2026 this year, as proposed in the 2026-27 Budget.
A government spokesperson said, “The measure upholds the principle of ‘affordable users pay’, and is expected to increase government revenue by about HKD 1 billion per year. Only about 0.3% of the highest-priced residential property transactions will be affected.”
The above legislation, as passed, will be gazetted on 29 May 2026.
In respect of the applicable transactions with instruments executed between 29 February 2026 and 28 May 2026 this year, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will issue letters to the relevant solicitors, requesting the buyers or sellers of those transactions to pay the difference between the old and new stamp duty by 29 June 2026.
If the difference is not paid within the time limit, the IRD will impose a late stamping penalty of up to 10 times the difference, and may recover the outstanding stamp duty through civil proceedings.
Earlier, on 18 May 2026, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) announced that it was set to reconvene on 20 May 2026 to continue deliberations on key legislative and policy matters, including the resumed Second Reading debate on the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2026.
