Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau has unveiled an Action Plan to promote the development of corporate treasury centres in Hong Kong, setting out a four pillar framework to attract more multinational corporations to establish treasury centres in the city and to help existing centres expand. Jointly formulated with the Inland Revenue Department, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Invest Hong Kong, the plan focuses on tax reform, tax treaty coverage, targeted promotion, and talent development and industry dialogue. The main policy change is a planned revamp of the existing tax concession regime for corporate treasury activities into a more competitive tiered system. The plan includes refining the current concession regime and introducing a pre-approval mechanism, under which approved corporate treasury centres and their associated companies would receive more favourable tax treatment, greater tax certainty and more compliance flexibility. It also commits to expanding Hong Kong's network of Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements beyond the 57 economies already covered, with particular focus on Belt and Road economies, while targeting promotion at enterprises from the Chinese Mainland and Asia, especially in new economy sectors, and strengthening professional training and ongoing engagement with industry. A public consultation on the tax changes is planned within this year, and the government is targeting submission of legislative amendment proposals to the Legislative Council in the first half of next year.

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