[jon78]

I have the following question.
I paid the rent all by myself in HK, can i tell the IRC and is there any chance that i can deduct some money because my employer didnt sponsor or provide me with an apartment?

thanks,
jon

[gilleshk]

It's possible but it has to be set up through your employer.

[jon78]

And what does my employer has to do? just write me a letter that he doesnt support my rental?

[PDLM]

It's not as simple as simply deducting the rent. See the many previous discussions on this subject which include worked examples and references to the Inland Revenue documents.

Start here: Housing allowance and taxes???

[gilleshk]

If I remember correctly, your contract has to be written so that a portion of your salary is allocated to rent and then forms have to be filled out by you and your employer and be submitted to the Revenue Department. Your employer must also have receipt and a copy of your lease.

[jon78]

Thanks a lot i went through the many topics but i dont quite understand it.

my case is i get 27, 500 hkd/month salary but dont have any housing allowance , means i pay the rent by myself. from the calculations it seems i can only deduct the 100,000 - but i am intersted if my rent can also be deducted in any way and how much that would be then. supposed my rent is like between 8 and 12 K/per month.

thanks for any help, mate

[PDLM]

And even then you it isn't as simple as deducting your rent - the accommodation provided has a taxable value. You need to read the thread linked above.

[PDLM]

If you don't get any housing allowance then you can't get any tax benefit. End of story.

[Happy Simon]

Originally Posted by PDLM

If you don't get any housing allowance then you can't get any tax benefit. End of story.

Hi guys,

Just to confirm as I am all new to this as well and have read as many threads on this as possible without getting too confused.
essentially housing allowance and rental reimbursement is 2 different things?
I dont have housing allowance in my package but instead, written in the contract is a certain % of my income as rental reimbursement, so my understanding is that I can use that as some kind of tax offset? I will be confirming these details once I arrive in HK but its always handy to know in advance, cheers.

[PDLM]

It doesn't matter exactly what it's called - the key things are:
- it must be defined as housing or rental or somesuch
- your employer must "exercise proper control" that you do actually spend it on housing for yourself and your immediate family only (meaning they need to keep a copy of the lease and rental receipts)
- your employer needs to report it all to the Revenue

If these conditions are met then the housing is given a taxable valuable of 10% of the remainder of your salary (including bonuses). This has the slightly odd effect that the tax payable is independent of how much you actually spend on housing.

Details in this PDF from IRD: http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/pam44e.pdf