AEOI Portal is a system designated by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue (“the Commissioner”) under Part 8A of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) (“the Ordinance”) for reporting financial institutions to file Financial Account Information Returns and submit various notifications to the Inland Revenue Department (“the Department”).

A reporting financial institution can register online on its own.  In addition, an authorized service provider or the person maintaining financial accounts (if the reporting financial institution is not a corporation) can register an AEOI Account on behalf of a reporting financial institution after the reporting financial institution has submitted to the Department a “Notification of Details of Person Authorized to Register/Operate an AEOI Account” (Form IR1459).  In the latter case, the Department will send a confirmation letter to the financial institution concerned with a copy sent to the authorized service provider or the person maintaining financial accounts.

No.  Since you do not maintain any reportable account, you are not required to register an AEOI Account.  Certainly, you may still actively register an AEOI account.

Please note that you are required to register an AEOI Account and give a notice to the Commissioner via the AEOI Portal within 3 months if you commence to maintain a reportable account.

Yes.  You can register an AEOI Account for the reporting financial institution provided that you have been duly authorized by that financial institution.  In this case, before performing the online registration, you should request the financial institution to submit to the Department a “Notification of Details of Person Authorized to Register/Operate an AEOI Account” (Form IR1459).  The Department will send a confirmation letter to the financial institution and copied you.

Yes.  You can register an AEOI Account for the financial institution.  In this case, before performing the online registration, you should request the financial institution to submit to the Department a “Notification of Details of Person Authorized to Register/Operate an AEOI Account” (Form IR1459). The Department will send a confirmation letter to the financial institution and copied you.

If the service provider is engaged by a financial institution to fulfill reporting obligations on the latter’s behalf under section 50H of the Ordinance, it can register an AEOI Account for that reporting financial institution provided that the requirements set out in FAQ 4 above have been met.

The AEOI Portal Account Registration Form must be signed by the authorized person holding a Hongkong Post Certification Authority e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions of: 

• the financial institution; or 
• the person acting for the financial institution to maintain financial accounts (if the financial institution is not a corporation) under section 50E of the Ordinance; or 
• the service provider engaged to carry out the financial institution’s obligations under section 50H of the Ordinance. 

If you are the “authorized person”, you must sign the AEOI Portal Account Registration Form in any of the following capacities: 

• “director” if you are a director of the corporation (i.e. corporate financial institution, corporate service provider or corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that completes this Registration; or 
• “officer” if you are a manager or company secretary of the corporation (i.e. corporate financial institution, corporate service provider or corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that completes this Registration; or 
• “principal officer” if you are the principal officer of a non-corporate entity (i.e. non-corporate financial institution, non-corporate service provider or non-corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that completes this Registration; or 
• “responsible person” if you are the responsible person of a non-corporate entity (i.e. non-corporate financial institution, non-corporate service provider or non-corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that completes this Registration.  “Responsible person” includes a partner for a partnership and a trustee for a trust; or 
• “liquidator” if you are the liquidator of the corporate financial institution in liquidation that completes this Registration.

To register an AEOI Account, the authorized person performing the registration is required to input, among others, the BRN of the reporting financial institution.  In general, a reporting financial institution should have a BRN if it carries on business in Hong Kong.  If the financial institution currently does not have a BRN but has the obligations to apply for a business registration, it should approach the Business Registration Office of the Department directly to complete business registration procedures before performing any online registration of the AEOI Account.  If the reporting financial institution is not carrying on any business in Hong Kong but has maintained reportable accounts, it should complete an “Application for Business Registration Number Equivalent by Financial Institution” (Form IR 1458) to request for a Business Registration Number Equivalent, which will serve the function of the BRN for the purpose of registration with the AEOI Portal.  The Department will issue a reference letter, where appropriate, to the reporting financial institution to facilitate its application for an e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions.  Please refer to FAQ 13 below.

Yes.  The reporting financial institution can authorize a maximum of two representatives and should notify the Department of such authorization when the reporting financial institution sets up or updates its profile of the AEOI Account.  An authorized representative can send to the Department enquiries relating to the reporting of financial account information of the reporting financial institution through a designated channel.  Please also refer to FAQ 11 below.

The authorized representative as stated in the AEOI Portal Account Registration Form can communicate with the Department in relation to the financial account information of the reporting financial institution regarding tax matters. For details, please refer to FAQ 11 below.

As regards the Application Form for e-Cert, the authorized representative stated therein is responsible for administering on behalf of the Subscriber Organisation the e-Cert application. For more details, please refer to the e-Cert Certification Practice Statement published at the website of the Hongkong Post Certification Authority.

An authorized representative is not allowed to access the reporting financial institution’s AEOI Account.  However, an authorized representative can send to the Department enquiries relating to the reporting of financial account information of the reporting financial institution through the “Contact Us (For Authorized Representative)” channel provided in the AEOI Portal.  The authorized representative is required to authenticate such submission with its own digital certificate, i.e. e-Cert (Personal) or e-Cert (Organisational).

No.  A reporting financial institution can register only one account with the AEOI Portal.  Each Business Registration Number or Business Registration Number Equivalent can link up with one AEOI Account only.

For access to the AEOI Portal, the reporting financial institution, service provider or person maintaining financial accounts is required to use an e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions for authentication.  For more information about e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions, please click here to visit the website of the Hongkong Post Certification Authority.

No.  An e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions must be used.  The e-Cert (Personal) cannot be used for registering or operating an AEOI Account for the reporting financial institution.  Each authorized person (e.g. staff of the reporting financial institution) must hold the relevant organization’s e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions issued by the Hongkong Post Certification Authority.

No.  An e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions must be used.  An e-Cert (Organisational) is not accepted by the AEOI Portal for authentication.  Your organization may choose to add the new feature of AEOI functions when renewing the existing certificate.  For further details of the procedures and documents required, please click here to visit the website of the Hongkong Post Certification Authority.

After successful registration, a unique AEOI ID Number will be issued as the identification number of the reporting financial institution for future access to the AEOI Portal.  This identification number cannot be changed once issued.

You can request to retrieve the reporting financial institution’s AEOI ID Number by clicking the “Forgot AEOI ID Number” link provided in the AEOI Portal.  Please input Business Registration Number or Business Registration Number Equivalent of the reporting financial institution and use your e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions for authentication.  The reporting financial institution’s AEOI ID Number will be sent to the email addresses of the contact persons according to the Department’s records.

You can request to retrieve the Lead Operator Reference Number by clicking the “Forgot Lead Operator Reference Number” link provided in the AEOI Portal.  Please input Business Registration Number of the Lead Operator and use your e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions for authentication.  The Lead Operator Reference Number will be sent to the email address of the contact person of the Lead Operator according to the Department’s records.

In case you forgot your password, you are recommended to revoke your e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions immediately and apply for a new one.  For more details, please contact the Hongkong Post Certification Authority direct.

Data file should be prepared in the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, which is set out in the Financial Account Information Return XML Schema.  For details, please refer to the Financial Account Information Return XML Schema and its User Guide.

The maximum recommended file size is 200MB after being compressed, signed and encrypted with the tools provided by the Department.  All the information can be sent in through as many transmissions as needed.

All data files containing the financial account information must be submitted via the AEOI Portal, which supports transfers through HTTPS.  Specific operational procedures are documented in A Guide to Return Filing.

No data file for a particular year can be uploaded if no Financial Account Information Return has been issued to a financial institution for that year. For details, please refer to FAQ 32 below.

Data file should be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Account Information Return XML Schema. The Encryption Tool provided by the Department would perform schema validation during the encryption process. Furthermore, if any self-developed software is used to prepare data files, prior consent has to be obtained from the Department by submitting test data file to the AEOI Portal for validation.

Data files uploaded under the “Submit Test Data File” function will only be used for validation purposes and will not be attached to the Financial Account Information Return of the reporting financial institution.

An encryption tool has been provided in the AEOI Portal. With your e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions, you can use the encryption tool to encrypt the data files.

You have to input the respective total number of reportable accounts and undocumented accounts contained in the data file when encrypting a data file with the Encryption Tool. Please refer to the examples in FAQs 29, 30 and 34 below for counting the number of reportable accounts and undocumented accounts.

No.  All data files uploaded to the AEOI Portal and the data records contained therein cannot be subsequently downloaded or retrieved via the AEOI Portal.  You should keep a copy of the data files for future reference.

Though two data records are prepared for such reportable account, you should count the number of reportable accounts as “1” since there is only 1 reportable account.

For the purpose of filing Financial Account Information Return (BIR80) under section 50C of the Ordinance, reportable account includes an undocumented account.  In the fields for total number of “reportable accounts” and “undocumented accounts included therein”, you should input “2” and “1” respectively.

Section 50F(2) of the Ordinance provides that a furnished Financial Account Information Return must include the required information in relation to each reportable account, inter alia, jurisdiction of residence of the account holder and controlling person that is a reportable person.  Where an account holder is a reportable person identified as having more than one jurisdiction of residence, the financial institution is required to report all identified jurisdictions of residence to the Department.  Where an account holder is a passive NFE with at least one controlling person that is a reportable person, the financial institution is required to report all identified jurisdictions of residence of the passive NFE and each controlling person that is a reportable person.

Please read FAQ 31 as well.  As the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is not a reportable jurisdiction of its own, you are only required to prepare 1 data record for the above reportable account and report the United Kingdom and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as jurisdictions of residence of the account holder / controlling person.  Presentation of the jurisdictions of residence in the data record should be as follows:

‹crs:ResCountryCode›GB‹/crs:ResCountryCode›
 ‹crs:ResCountryCode›HK‹/crs:ResCountryCode›

Please read FAQ 31 as well.  As the information periods are the same for the information required to be reported with respect to tax residents of the United Kingdom and Japan, you are only required to prepare 1 data record for the above reportable account and report the United Kingdom and Japan as jurisdictions of residence of the account holder / controlling person.  Presentation of the jurisdictions of residence in the data record should be as follows:

‹crs:ResCountryCode›GB‹/crs:ResCountryCode›
 ‹crs:ResCountryCode›JP‹/crs:ResCountryCode›

For the first round of reporting in 2018, reporting financial institutions are required to furnish, for the reportable jurisdictions other than Japan, the United Kingdom and Korea, information from 1 July 2017, whereas for Japan and the United Kingdom, information from 1 January 2017.  As regards Korea, financial institutions are not required to report the information related to tax residents of Korea for 2017.

As the information periods are different for the information required to be reported with respect to tax residents of the United Kingdom and Malaysia, the information must be reported separately according to the respective information periods.  Therefore, 2 data records are required to be prepared for the mentioned reportable account but can be included in the same data file.

Though two data records are prepared for such reportable account, you should count the number of reportable accounts as “1” since there is only 1 reportable account.

Please read FAQs 31 and 34 as well.  In this case, although the information periods are different for the information required in respect of the United Kingdom and Malaysia, in view that the information required to be reported with respect to the United Kingdom and Malaysia is identical (due to no payment was made to the account during the period from 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017), only 1 data record is required to be prepared for the above reportable account.

Please read FAQs 31 and 34 as well.  In this case, as the information required to be reported with respect to the United Kingdom and Malaysia is different, 2 data records are required to be prepared for the above reportable account.  Among others, the total gross amount of payments made to the account during the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017 must be reported in the data record prepared for the United Kingdom whereas only the total gross amount of payments made during the period from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 is required to be reported in the data record prepared for Malaysia.

For the first round of reporting in 2018, reporting financial institutions are required to furnish, for the reportable jurisdictions other than Japan, the United Kingdom and Korea, information from 1 July 2017.  As the above account was held by a tax resident of the Mainland of China (i.e. a reportable jurisdiction other than Japan, the United Kingdom and Korea) and closed prior to 1 July 2017, you are not required to prepare data record for this account.

For the first round of reporting in 2018, reporting financial institutions are required to furnish, for the reportable jurisdictions other than Japan, the United Kingdom and Korea, information from 1 July 2017, whereas for Japan and the United Kingdom, information from 1 January 2017.  As the mentioned reportable account was closed prior to 1 July 2017, you are required to prepare 1 data record only, i.e. data record prepared for data exchange with the United Kingdom.  However, the jurisdiction of residence of the reportable person should include the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

The Department will issue electronic notices in January each year starting from 2018 via the AEOI Portal to financial institutions requiring them to file Financial Account Information Returns.  Completed Returns have to be submitted via the AEOI Portal within 5 months from the date of notice.

Financial Account Information Return must be signed by the authorized person holding a Hongkong Post Certification Authority e-Cert (Organisational) with AEOI Functions of:

• the financial institution (if the financial institution is a corporation); or
• the person acting for the financial institution to maintain financial accounts (if the financial institution is not a corporation) under section 50E of the Ordinance; or
• the service provider engaged to carry out the financial institution’s obligations under section 50H of the Ordinance.

If you are the “authorized person”, you must sign the return in any of the following capacities:

• “director” if you are a director of the corporation (i.e. corporate financial institution, corporate service provider or corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that files this Return; or
• “officer” if you are a manager or company secretary of the corporation (i.e. corporate financial institution, corporate service provider or corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that files this Return; or
• “principal officer” if you are the principal officer of a non-corporate entity (i.e. non-corporate service provider or non-corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that files this Return; or
• “responsible person” if you are the responsible person of a non-corporate entity (i.e. non-corporate service provider or non-corporate entity maintaining financial accounts for a non-corporate financial institution) that files this Return.  “Responsible person” includes a partner for a partnership and a trustee for a trust; or
• “liquidator” if you are the liquidator of the corporate financial institution in liquidation that files this Return.

No. If you subsequently discern that there are mistakes made in the reported financial account information, you should submit a new data file to rectify the situation.  For details, please refer to the Financial Account Information Return XML Schema and its User Guide.