Gross salary is what you earn before deductions. Net salary — your take-home pay — is what reaches your bank account after deductions such as your 5% MPF contribution. In Hong Kong, employers don’t withhold salaries tax, so tax isn’t taken out of your monthly pay.

The Inland Revenue Department assesses your salaries tax after the year of assessment ends on 31 March, and you pay it yourself, usually in two instalments. Your monthly take-home pay in Hong Kong is therefore higher than in markets with pay-as-you-earn withholding — but you need to set money aside for the tax bill when it arrives.

You and your employer each contribute 5% of your relevant income to MPF. For monthly-paid employees, contributions apply between $7,100 HKD and $30,000 HKD of monthly income, capping each side at $1,500 HKD a month. Below $7,100 HKD, only your employer contributes.

Monthly relevant income | Employer’s mandatory contribution | Your mandatory contribution

Less than $7,100 HKD | Relevant income × 5% | No contribution required

$7,100 HKD to $30,000 HKD | Relevant income × 5% | Relevant income × 5%

More than $30,000 HKD | $1,500 HKD | $1,500 HKD

If you’re paid daily, weekly or bi-monthly, the levels come from a daily minimum of $280 HKD and a daily maximum of $1,000 HKD, multiplied by the days in the wage period.

Relevant income covers wages, salary, leave pay, fees, commissions, bonuses, gratuities, perquisites and allowances. Severance payments and long service payments are excluded.

New employees get a contribution holiday: you make no contributions for your first 30 days of employment, and the holiday extends to the end of the incomplete wage period that follows. Your employer contributes from your first day either way.

Source: MPFA, Mandatory Contributions — Employees, last reviewed 30 April 2026.

Hong Kong salaries tax is charged at whichever is lower: progressive rates of 2% to 17% on your net chargeable income, or two-tiered standard rates of 15% on the first $5,000,000 HKD of net income and 16% above that. The Inland Revenue Department calculates both for you.

Net chargeable income = income – deductions – allowances

Net income = income – deductions, before allowances

Progressive rates (2020/21 onwards)

Net chargeable income | Rate | Tax | Cumulative tax

On the first $50,000 HKD | 2% | $1,000 HKD | $1,000 HKD

On the next $50,000 HKD | 6% | $3,000 HKD | $4,000 HKDOn the next $50,000 HKD | 10% | $5,000 HKD | $9,000 HKD

On the next $50,000 HKD | 14% | $7,000 HKD | $16,000 HKD

Remainder | 17% | n/a | n/a

Two-tiered standard rates (2024/25 onwards)15% on the first $5,000,000 HKD of net income, 16% on the remainder.

The year of assessment runs 1 April to 31 March. A single taxpayer with no dependants approaches the standard rate zone at around $2,132,500 HKD of annual income for 2026/27.

Source: IRD PAM 61(e), Allowances, Deductions and Tax Rate Table, August 2026.

Yes. Bonuses form part of your assessable income for salaries tax, and they also count as relevant income for MPF. But the MPF monthly cap still applies: if your relevant income that month already exceeds $30,000 HKD, your contribution stays at $1,500 HKD however large the bonus.

Double pay and end-of-contract gratuities are treated the same way. If your monthly income is below $30,000 HKD, a bonus will push your MPF contribution up for that month, up to the cap.

Hong Kong taxes by territorial source, not by residence. You pay salaries tax on income arising in or derived from Hong Kong from an office, employment or pension — whether you are a permanent resident, an expat on a work visa, or neither. Your residence, domicile and citizenship generally don’t change that.

If you hold a Hong Kong employment, income for services rendered both in and outside Hong Kong is treated as Hong Kong-sourced. If you hold a non-Hong Kong employment, only income for services rendered in Hong Kong is taxed, so a time-apportionment claim may apply.

For 2026/27, the basic allowance is $145,000 HKD and the married person’s allowance is $290,000 HKD. Deductions include mandatory MPF contributions up to $18,000 HKD, and qualifying annuity premiums plus MPF tax-deductible voluntary contributions (TVC) up to $60,000 HKD combined.

Deductions come off your income first; allowances come off after that to give your net chargeable income.

Deduction ceilings (2026/27 onwards)

Mandatory MPF contributions | $18,000 HKD

Qualifying annuity premiums and MPF TVC, combined | $60,000 HKD

Self-education expenses | $100,000 HKD

Home loan interest | $100,000 HKD basic, plus $20,000 HKD additional

Domestic rents | $100,000 HKD basic, plus $20,000 HKD additional

VHIS qualifying premiums, per insured person | $8,000 HKD

Elderly residential care expenses | $110,000 HKD

Approved charitable donations | up to 35% of income after allowable expenses and depreciation allowances

Allowances (2026/27 onwards)

Basic allowance | $145,000 HKD

Married person’s allowance | $290,000 HKD

Single parent allowance | $145,000 HKD

Child allowance, each of the 1st to 9th child | $140,000 HKD

Additional child allowance, year of birth | $140,000 HKD

Dependent parent or grandparent aged 60 or above | $55,000 HKD

Additional allowance if that parent or grandparent lives with you all year | $55,000 HKD

Dependent parent or grandparent aged 55 to 59 | $27,500 HKD

Dependent brother or sister | $37,500 HKD

Personal disability allowance | $75,000 HKD

Disabled dependant allowance | $75,000 HKD

A dependent parent aged 60 or above who lives with you throughout the year is therefore worth $110,000 HKD in total. From 2026/27, the additional child allowance also applies in each of the first two years following childbirth.

Source: IRD PAM 61(e), August 2026.