HK IR56 Tax Return Compliance Updates

Premier Plus v23.9 

1. Changes on IR56 Tax Filing Forms  

ABSS Premier Plus have updated the 4 tax filing forms formats, reflecting the latest updates from the Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong:

• • • IR56B (New, Additional, Replacement & Supplementary)
    • IR56E  
    • IR56F (New, Additional & Replacement) 
    • IR56G 

Sample of new IR56B form (refer to IMG001):

IMG001

2. IR56B Form Update - Additional  

Users can now report an additional sum of income (e.g. bonus, share option gain, etc.) previously omitted, with the newly added IR56B Form - Additional. (Refer to IMG002) 

IMG002

Steps to generate IR56B Form – Additional: 

i.   User (employer) has previously submitted the tax return form - IR56B New, Replacement or Supplementary. 

ii.  User (employer) has processed the pay run for the additional income of the affected staff.  

iii. In the Tax Returns Assistant screen, tick on IR56B under Employer’s Annual Return, and choose Additional. (Refer to IMG003) 

IMG003

3. IR56F Form Updates  

    IR56F Form options has been separate from existing combined option with IR56G, see below:

 (Refer IMG004, IMG005) 

    Existing IR56F/IR56G combine option 

IMG004

New IR56F, IR56G as separate option

IMG005 

• Users can now report an additional sum of income for Resigned employee, with the newly added IR56F Form - Additional. 
• Users can also report replacement income for Resigned employee with IR56F Form - Replacement.
•      Example of IR56F Replacement form: (Refer to IMG006)

IMG006

4. Changes on IR56B XML File

IR56B XML file has been updated with the following changes:

• New field - Postal Address Area Code

A new field ‘Correspondence Area’ is added to the Card Information>Payroll Details tab screen. This field will be reflected as the ‘Postal Address Area Code’ in the XML file generated. 
(Refer to IMG007 & IMG009- a) 

IMG007

• New field - Name of Signer

Contact Name will be reflected as the field, ‘Name of Signer’ in the XML file generated. (Refer to IMG008 & IMG009 - b) 

• New field - Version Number 
  The default version number for IR56B Form is B0001. It will reflect in the XML file when generated. (Refer to IMG009 - c)

• New field - Return Assessment Year 

By default, the system will take the current payroll financial year, as the Return Assessment Year. (Refer to IMG009 - d)

IMG008

IMG009

• Change in Residential and Correspondence address lines characters limit The Residential and Correspondence address lines is now updated to allow input of 3 lines and 30 characters in each line. (Refer to IMG 010) Important note: Users are recommended to check previously recorded employees' address (Card Information), to ensure correct value is captured and displayed in the XML file.

IMG010

5. Newly added XML File generating feature, for IR56B (Additional / Replacement / Supplementary) and IR56F (New / Additional / Replacement) (ABSS Premier Plus only)

With the newly updated tax filing forms, users can now generate XML file for the following: 

• IR56B (New, Replacement & Supplementary)
• IR56F (New, Additional & Replacement)

Example of IR56F XML as per below: (Refer to IMG011)

IMG011

6. Employee Card Information screen update

i) A new field “Correspondence Area”is now added into the employee Card Information screen. 

To access, go to Card Information>Payroll Details tab. (Refer to IMG012) 

The dropdown list in Correspondence Area, will show the same options as the Residence Area list. 

By default, when creating a new employee record, the field will automatically select ‘Hong Kong Island’ as the option.

IMG012

ii) The name format validation for employee “Spouse Name” field in Card Information screen has been removed. (Chinese Traditional version only) (Refer to IMG013 & IMG014) 

IMG013

The below Spouse Name error message has been removed.

IMG014

Important Notes: After upgrade to v23.9,user required to review existing employee record with the spouse name, remove the comma in between surname and name.

7. Change of Tax Return Assistant Process Flow for IR56F and IR56G Forms  

The Tax Return Assistant process flow has been updated to stay in compliance with the Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong's requirements. These changes are reflected on several steps of the process.  

• Set up the Tax Returns fields screen - Step 4 of 8:When attempt to print while generating the IR56F or IR56G form, the screen will show the mapping fields. The layout is similar to the layout of IR56B form. (Refer to IMG015)

Important note: Users are recommended to manually map the Payroll Categories fields with the Tax Returns Field. (This step is only required once.)

IMG015

• Set up the Tax Returns fields screen - Step 6 of 8:   
  The changes will be reflected when viewing a specific employee information, under the Employee Tax Returns Information screen. (Refer to IMG016) 

IMG016

• Set up the Tax Returns fields screen - Step 7 of 8:   
  User can choose to print the hardcopy (PDF file format) of IR56F or IR56G form. User may also choose to generate tax return data file for IR56F form (in XML file format). (Refer to IMG017)

IMG017