Hong Kong BIR60 Tax Return: How to Prepare and File Your Personal Tax Return

What BIR60 is—and what it is not

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) gives BIR60 the formal title Tax Return – Individuals (BIR60). It is the individual income return issued to individual taxpayers. It is not the company return used to report profits tax on a corporation, partnership business or non-resident person’s profits.

GovHK’s profits tax guidance identifies the applicable returns for those business categories as:

Profits Tax Return - Corporations (BIR51)
Profits Tax Return - Persons Other Than Corporations (BIR52)
Profits Tax Return - In Respect Of Non-Resident Persons (BIR54)

A person carrying on a trade, profession or business in the form of a corporation or partnership, or a non-resident person chargeable to Profits Tax in that person’s name, must complete all applicable items in the relevant profits tax return. These are separate from the individual return, BIR60.

Complete, sign and file even without income

The GovHK Tax Return – Individuals (BIR60) completion page gives a direct instruction: if an individual taxpayer receives BIR60 from the IRD, the taxpayer must complete, sign and file it in time, even if there is no income to report.

Accordingly, the absence of reportable income is not a reason to leave the received BIR60 unfiled. The filing obligation still includes completion of the return and the taxpayer’s signature. This is distinct from deciding which form is appropriate: BIR60 is the individual return, while BIR51, BIR52 and BIR54 are the separate profits tax returns identified by GovHK.

Supplementary forms that accompany BIR60

The supplementary forms form part of the individual return and should be filed together with it. The completion page states their introduction dates as follows:

With effect from 1 April 2019, BIRSP1 to BIRSP3 were introduced.
Starting from 1 April 2022, BIRSP4 was introduced.
From 1 April 2025, BIRSP5 was introduced.

The same official instruction applies to these supplementary forms: they are part of the return and should be filed with BIR60. They should therefore be included in the return package rather than treated as unrelated optional documents. The cited completion guidance identifies the forms by BIRSP reference but does not assign separate contents or filing dates to their individual introduction dates.

When a spouse must also sign

The BIR60 completion page identifies situations in which the taxpayer’s spouse should also sign the return. The taxpayer must be married for all or part of the year and must either have elected joint assessment or personal assessment jointly with the spouse, or have been nominated by the spouse to claim a home loan interest deduction.

That spouse-signature requirement is additional to the taxpayer’s own signature. It therefore applies where the stated marriage and election or nomination conditions are present.

For joint assessment, the GovHK joint assessment page gives more specific instructions:

Both spouses should each complete a Tax Return – Individuals (BIR60).
Joint assessment should be elected in part 4.4.
Both spouses must sign part 13 of each tax return.

The signature requirement is therefore not confined to one spouse’s copy: both spouses sign part 13 of each return used for the joint assessment.

How BIR60 sits alongside property tax returns

The completion page separately identifies BIR57 and BIR58 as property tax returns. These are related filings, not alternative names for BIR60.

Where the nature or ownership of property means that income from it must be reported on a property tax return, the individual’s BIR60 filing obligation remains distinct from that property return. An individual should therefore not assume that completing BIR60 necessarily removes the need for BIR57 or BIR58. The appropriate property return must be checked against the holder or ownership category stated in the official guidance.

What Internet Filing calculates

The IRD’s Internet Filing tax computation page confirms that the Internet Filing function can compute tax liability for a current year return. It automatically estimates the salaries tax payable and shows the amount payable under each instalment after deducting the provisional tax charged for the year.

The official description therefore covers both parts of the calculation: the tax liability figure and its presentation under each instalment after the provisional tax deduction. The displayed salaries tax figure is described by the IRD as an estimate produced through the Internet Filing computation function.

For a paper-based review or a return being checked before electronic submission, the practical control is to verify the information entered before relying on the computed figure. The computation cannot correct an income amount, ownership description or other entry that was supplied incorrectly.

If the return is not lodged on time

The completion page states the consequence where a taxpayer cannot lodge the tax return by the due date or the extended due date. In all such cases, an estimated assessment will be issued.

The taxpayer may also be required to pay more tax. Penalty proceedings may follow, including payment of a penalty or prosecution. The official wording distinguishes the estimated assessment, which will be issued following failure to lodge, from the additional tax and penalties, which may be required or imposed.

The cited guidance does not provide a percentage penalty or a substitute filing date, so neither should be assumed when checking whether lodgement has occurred by the applicable due date or extended due date.

Pre-submission reconciliation checklist

Before lodging BIR60, work through the following checks:

Confirm the form. BIR60 is the Tax Return – Individuals. profits tax reporting for a corporation, partnership business or non-resident person should be checked against BIR51, BIR52 or BIR54 instead of treating BIR60 as the company return.
Complete the return. Do not stop at gathering figures; the IRD requires the received BIR60 to be completed. This remains necessary even where there is no income to report.
Reconcile the information entered. Compare the income amounts, descriptions and ownership information to be entered against the information available to the taxpayer, and resolve inconsistencies before submission.
Check the supplementary forms. Ensure the BIRSP forms supplied as part of the return package are included and filed together with BIR60.
Check the basic signature. Confirm that the taxpayer has signed the BIR60 where a signature is required.
Apply the spouse-signature test. Check whether the taxpayer is married for all or part of the year and whether a joint or personal assessment has been elected jointly, or the taxpayer has been nominated by the spouse to claim home loan interest deduction.
Check joint-assessment execution. Each spouse should complete a BIR60, the election should be made in part 4.4, and both spouses should sign part 13 of each return.
Check for a property return. Determine whether the property income also requires BIR57 or BIR58 under the relevant ownership or holder category.
Review any e-filing computation. Check the tax liability and the amount shown under each instalment after deduction of the provisional tax charged for the year.
Check lodgement timing. Make sure the return is lodged by the applicable due date or extended due date; failure to do so leads to an estimated assessment under the completion page’s stated rule.

Questions people ask about this

Where can the BIRSP forms be downloaded?
The GovHK completion page directs users to the IRD’s supplementary forms download location for the individual return. It is available at IRD’s supplementary forms download location.

Is a joint-assessment election made only once?
No. The GovHK joint assessment page says that the election must be made on a yearly basis. It should not be treated as an election that automatically carries forward.

When can the e-filing computation be seen, and what does it use?
The IRD says the computation can be shown before submission or after the return has been lodged electronically. The system estimates salaries tax payable according to the information supplied in the tax return.

Which return is used for property jointly owned or co-owned with other persons?
The completion page directs income from property jointly owned or co-owned by the taxpayer with other persons to Property Tax Return (BIR57). This is a separate property return category from BIR60.

Which return is used for property held by a corporation or body of persons?
The stated return is Property Tax Return (BIR58). GovHK identifies it as the return for reporting income from property held by corporations or bodies of persons.