| Tax Information :
Tax Reserve Certificates
There are two types of Tax Reserve
Certificates (TRCs): the ordinary TRCs and the TRCs for "Conditional
Standover Order".
Ordinary TRCs are introduced to assist
taxpayers to build up funds for tax payment. To use this service,
taxpayers can join the "Electronic TRCs Scheme". Civil servants and
civil service pensioners can also opt for the "Save-As-You-Earn"
Scheme.
Ordinary TRCs are now issued only
in electronic form. Paper TRCs had been
abolished with effect from 1 September 1999.
TRCs for "Conditional
Standover Order" are a form of security, which taxpayers
are required to provide for the payment of tax held over upon objections
or appeals against assessments. Such TRCs are issued only in paper
form.
The
Electronic Tax Reserve Certificates (TRCs) Scheme
The Electronic TRCs Scheme is a "Save
for Tax" scheme open to all taxpayers to assist them to build
up funds for tax payment. It provides TRC users with a full range
of electronic services, including purchase through various electronic
channels (monthly bank autopay, telephone, internet and bank automated teller machine) and an auto tax payment service .
Opening a TRC Account
Please furnish an Application Form
(IR1306)
in hardcopy to our TRCs Section. After processing your application,
we will notify you of your TRC Account Number (TAN). With this number,
you can purchase and redeem electronic TRCs.
Each taxpayer can only open one TRC
account. Joint-name account is not allowed.
Optional "Save-As-You-Earn
Scheme" (SAYE) for Civil Servants
The optional "Save-As-You-Earn Scheme"
is a "Save for Tax" scheme to assist serving civil servants
and civil service pensioners to build up funds for tax payment.
Direct deduction will be made from your monthly salary / pension
to purchase TRCs. A full range of electronic services is on offer.
In addition to acquisitions through salary / pension deduction,
you can purchase TRCs via various electronic channels (monthly bank autopay, telephone, internet and bank automated teller machine). An auto tax payment service is also provided when your tax
falls due.
Joining the SAYE Scheme
Simply furnish
an Authorization Form to authorize a monthly deduction (at a minimum
of $300 and in multiples of $50) from your salary or pension each
month to purchase TRCs. TRCs purchased will be deposited into your
TRC account. The authorization form should reach the Treasury one
month before the effective month in which deduction is made.
Upon joining the scheme, you will
be notified of your TRC Account Number (TAN). You can purchase and
redeem TRCs at any time with your TAN.
For serving civil servants, the Authorization
Form (GF
605) can be downloaded from IRD website or CCGO Intranet.
The completed form should be returned to the Treasury via your Head
of Department.
For civil service pensioners, the
Authorization Form (Try 489) is available from the Pensions Division
of the Treasury or the Pensioners' Welfare Unit of Civil Service
Bureau.
Please note that a fresh Authorization
Form (Try 489) must be completed by a pensioner notwithstanding
that he has formerly participated in the Scheme as a serving civil
servant.
Changing or terminating the monthly deduction from
salary or pension
Please inform the Director of Accounting
Services by completing a fresh Authorization Form. Notification
of changes or termination of deduction should reach the Treasury
one month before the effective month in which the change or termination
is made.
Any balance of TRCs in your account
after termination of the monthly deduction will be carried forward
for your tax payment in future.
For more information, serving civil
servants may contact their respective Departmental Secretary/ Personnel
Registry direct and civil service pensioners may contact the Pensions
Division of Treasury at 2829 5113 or 2829 5114.
Purchasing
TRCs
With a TRC account,
you may purchase TRCs monthly through bank autopay, or at any time via a telephone, the Internet, a bank automated teller machine, by post or
in person. The TRCs so purchased will
be deposited into your TRC account.
TRCs must be issued
in denominations of $300 or above and in multiples of $50. TRCs
will earn interest only when they are redeemed to pay the holder's
tax. Please note that if they are redeemed for other purposes, no
interest will be payable.
Purchase channels:-
| |
1. |
You may purchase TRCs monthly
at a specified sum by bank autopay. Deductions are normally
made from your bank account within the first 5 working days
of each month.
To effect bank autopay, please
submit a Direct Debit Authorization Form (IR1306
for those without a TRC account and IR1317
for those having a TRC account). Please do not submit forms
IR1306
and IR1317
in electronic form as these forms contain a "Direct Debit
Authorization" which must be sent to banks in hardcopy
for signature verification. After an approval notifications
is received from the bank, it normally takes about 7 working
days for setting up an autopay arrangement and sending you
confirmation by post.
To change or terminate bank
autopay instructions, please notify our TRC Section by completing
an Application Form IR1317. Please note that the completed form (in hardcopy)
must reach us 15 working days before the date of change or
termination. TRCs still remaining in your account after termination
of autopay will be carried forward for your tax payment in
future. |
| |
2. |
For purchase of TRCs by telephone, you need
a PPS account
which can be opened with a bank ATM card at any of the PPS
terminals installed at outlets of most merchants who have
joined PPS.
To purchase TRCs by phone, please dial 18011
with a tone phone for bill registration (using the TAN) and
18031 for bill payment. The merchant code for the Inland Revenue
Department is "10". |
| |
3. |
You can purchase TRCs via a personal computer
with an internet connection through "eTAX",
"PPS by Internet" or the internet banking service
of your banks. For details, please visit
www.gov.hk/etax or Treasury's
Homepage. |
| |
4. |
TRCs can be purchased with your ATM card
at any of the HSBC/Hang Seng Bank ATMs with the "Bill Payment"
signage or the JETCO ATMs with the "JET PAYMENT" logo. |
| |
|
To purchase TRCs by e-payments,
please note the following:
| |
|
Enter your
13-digit TRC Account Number (TAN) in the transaction.
|
| |
|
Payments made
before the daily cut-off time of your selected
payment service provider will be taken as received
on the same day and the TRC will bear that day's
prevailing interest rate. |
| |
|
Each ATM card
or bank account has a daily transaction limit.
Please consult your bank about the limit. |
|
|
| |
5. |
Please send in a completed Purchase Form
(IR1318)
together with a crossed cheque to the Inland Revenue Department,
P.O. Box 28282, Gloucester Road Post Office, Hong Kong. The
cheque should be crossed and made payable to "The Government
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" or "The Government
of the HKSAR". Please write your TAN on the back of the cheque.
Please do not send in cash. Post-dated cheques will not be
accepted. |
| |
6. |
You can purchase TRCs
at Post Offices (except mobile post offices) by EPS, cheque
or cash by quoting your TAN. For addresses and opening hours
of post offices, please visit the Hongkong Post web site www.hongkongpost.com
or call their enquiry hotline 2921 2222. |
The "Auto
Tax Payment Service"
Both the "Electronic Tax Reserve
Certificates" Scheme and the "Save-As-You-Earn" Scheme
offer "Auto Tax Payment Service" which ensures on-time
tax payment. On the due date of payment, the TRCs in your account
will be automatically redeemed on a First-In-Fist-Out basis for
payment of your tax and a Redemption Statement will be sent to you
showing movements in your TRC account.
Around 2 weeks before redemption on
the due date of payment, we will send a redemption proposal showing
details of certificates intended to be redeemed and the balance
of tax payable by you. If there is no addition to or withdrawal
from your account and the amount of tax due remains unchanged from
the date of proposal to the tax due date, please follow the proposal
and pay the balance of tax payable on or before the due date. Otherwise,
you should adjust and pay such amount not met by your certificates.
The service covers only tax charged
on the account holder. To redeem TRCs for payment of property tax
for jointly-owned properties, please submit a Redemption Form (IR1333)
one month before the tax due date.
Any balance of tax not covered by
the TRCs redeemed shall be payable on or before the tax due date.
TRCs not redeemed for tax payment will be carried forward in your
TRC account.
Account
Statement and Account Details Enquiry
For the "Electronic Tax Reserve
Certificates" Scheme and the "Save-As-You-Earn" Scheme,
a Mid-year Statement will be issued to you in September every year
showing your account balance as at 31 August of the year. A statement
of TRCs can also be requested by completing and returning an Application
Form (IR1334).
Individual TRCs account holders can
also check and print the account details anytime via their eTAX
Accounts if they are registered eTAX Account Holders.
Refund
To get a refund on the Electronic
TRCs purchased, please furnish a Redemption Form (IR1333)
to our TRC Section.
As the TRCs so refunded are not redeemed
for payment of your tax, no interest will be payable.
Interest
Rate Update and Interest Calculation
The information on this
home page is for reference only. The interest payable on
tax reserve certificates are calculated based on the prescribed
rate of interest published in the Gazette.
In case of dispute the Gazette rate shall prevail.
|
The interest rate on TRC is reviewed
every month based on the average of the prevailing six-month time
deposit rates below $100,000 offered by the three note issuing banks.
The interest rate on TRC is 0.0433%
per annum with effect from 4 January 2010.
This rate will apply to all ordinary TRCs issued on or after the
above date until further notice. Ordinary TRCs which were issued
before such date will continue to earn interest at the rates in
force at their respective dates of issue.
Please refer to the Tax
Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (Consolidation) Notice Schedule
for the previous TRC interest rates.
Interest payable on an ordinary TRC is governed by
the following rules:-
| |
The TRC will earn interest only when used for
payment of the holder's tax. |
| |
Once purchased, the TRC
will bear the interest rate prevailing at the date of purchase. |
| |
The TRC will bear simple
interest which is calculated from the date of purchase to
the date of redemption. |
| |
The TRC will earn interest for a maximum period
of 36 months. |
Paper
Tax Reserve Certificates (TRCs)
Paper certificates are not issued
for ordinary TRCs from 1 September 1999. However, paper TRCs bought
before that day can still be redeemed for paying the holder's tax
or for a refund at its face value.
To redeem paper TRCs for payment of
tax, please complete and sign the Redemption Instructions on the
reverse side of the certificates and send them in together with
your tax demand note 6 weeks before the tax due date. If the TRCs
are not sufficient to cover your tax liability, a crossed cheque
payable to "The Government of the HKSAR" should also be enclosed
for the difference between the tax payable and the principal of
the TRCs. Interest and surplus principal of the redeemed TRCs, if
any, will be refunded to you by post.
To redeem paper TRCs at face value,
please complete and sign the Redemption Instructions on the reverse
side of the certificate. No interest will be payable on such redemption.
All signed certificates should be
forwarded to our TRC Section at 5/F, Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester
Road, Wanchai, HK.
If the paper TRC is lost, redemption
will only be considered upon submission of a Letter of Indemnity.
An application for a duplicate paper TRC can be made in writing
at a payment of $140.
TRCs for "Conditional Standover
Order"
When an assessment is under objection
or appeal, the Commissioner may order the tax-in-dispute be held
over conditionally upon the purchase of a TRC. The TRC can be issued
in whatever amount specified by the Commissioner and it can only
be used to settle the tax due on the assessment in dispute.
The TRCs so purchased will bear simple
interest but interest is payable only on that part of the capital
sum eventually repaid to taxpayer upon final determination of the
objection or appeal. For a TRC for "Conditional Standover Order"
issued on or after 1 September 1999, interest is payable from the
date of issue of the TRC to the date of final determination of the
objection or appeal at such rates in force from time to time over
the tenure of the TRC.
Forms
You can:
-
download
the required forms (except Try 489) from Internet,
-
get a fax copy of them (except Try 489 and
IR1334) from our Fax-A-Form Service (telephone no. 2598 6001),
or
-
obtain the forms (except Try 489 and GF 605)
from the Inland Revenue Department at 1/F or 5/F, Revenue Tower,
5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai.
Enquiries
and Submissions
For further information, please call 187 8033.
The opening hours of the TRC Section are:-
| Monday to Friday |
8:15 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. and |
|
1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. |
Written enquiries can be sent to 5/F,
Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai.
Enquiries and submissions can also
be made electronically. Please refer to the web page on Electronic Submission of Information for the
prescribed format, manner and procedures of filing electronic documents
and the e-mail address. Please do not submit forms IR1306
and IR1317
in electronic form as these forms contain a "Direct Debit Authorization"
which must be sent to banks in hardcopy for signature verification.
FAQ
Q & A
for Tax Reserve Certificates
|
|