IR56B

What is IR56B?

IR56B refers to the payroll and pension tax return filed by the employer, which is only applicable to employees who are still employed on March 31. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) issues it to Hong Kong employers on April 1 each year and requires employers to return it within one month in order to accurately assess the amount of salaries tax paid by employees.

IR56B form template

Please refer to the below IR56B form in English download link.

Why IR56B is important?

It is the obligation of Hong Kong employers to understand Hong Kong’s tax reporting requirements. Hong Kong employers should report all salaries paid to employees during the financial year for accurate processing of employee salaries tax. This report must be prepared using the form recognized by the Hong Kong government, namely Form IR56B. Please refer to the Notes and Instructions of Form IR56B.

When a taxpayer fails to notify the Inland Revenue Department of his payable salaries tax or fails to file a tax return on time, it is considered a violation of the salaries tax regulations. Taxpayers who comply with the regulations or file incorrectly can incur heavy penalties.

Notice of IR56B tax return

In the IR56B form, the items that need to be declared include employee personal information, wages, holiday pay, bonuses, director fees, commissions, etc. The content is complicated and mistakes may occur if one is not careful. And there are many details that need to be paid attention to, for example: if you have reported the employee’s salary to the tax bureau with the IR56F/G form, you should never fill out the IR56B form again for the salary.

Workstem

Workstem’s one-stop cloud & human resources management platform includes a complete tax function. It not only helps you record employees’ entry dates, payroll information, payroll history records, MPF contribution records, etc. but also customizes each income. Add items/subtract items, and put them under different taxation rules. When the tax filing season comes, Workstem will help you generate and export IR56B of all employees with one click, and you can also choose XML or PDF format to make it easy for you to complete tax returns. Expect!