Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 2017 (Amendment Ordinance) was gazetted June 16 and will come into effect on July 1, 2017. The Amendment Ordinance enables Hong Kong to implement automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (AEOI) more effectively.

As an international financial centre Hong Kong has been committed to enhancing tax transparency and combatting cross-border tax evasion. Hong Kong has been making preparations for the implementation of the common reporting standard for AEOI as set out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). At the same time, both the OECD and the European Union (EU) have been closely monitoring jurisdictions’ progress in the implementation of AEOI.

The Amendment Ordinance can ensure that Hong Kong preserves the financial account information from the second half of 2017 for exchanging with other jurisdictions. This enables the effective implementation of AEOI without introducing an undue compliance burden to financial institutions.

To implement AEOI, from July 1, 2017, the list of “reportable jurisdictions” under the Inland Revenue Ordinance will be expanded to cover 75 jurisdictions, comprising 13 confirmed AEOI partners and 62 prospective AEOI partners. The 62 prospective AEOI partners include the following three categories:

(a) jurisdictions which have expressed an interest in conducting AEOI with Hong Kong or jurisdictions suggested by the OECD;

(b) Hong Kong’s tax treaty partners which have committed to AEOI; and

(c) all member states of the EU.

The Amendment Ordinance does not alter the privacy and data protection requirements on AEOI under the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Hong Kong would only conduct AEOI with jurisdictions which have signed dedicated exchange agreements with Hong Kong and have fulfilled the OECD’s standard and relevant safeguards for protecting data privacy and confidentiality of the information exchanged.