Highlights

The Inland Revenue Department’s (“IRD”) practice in reviewing charities’ tax exemption status is continuously developing.  Different types of charities and different types of issues are coming under the spotlight by turns.  However, many tax-exempt charities are not aware that some of their income is not automatically tax-exempt under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance.   Any non-compliance with tax obligations may result in penalties even for charities.  The IRD is also updating its charity tax guide more frequently, with the latest version updated in September 2021.

In view of such trend, Mr. Philip Hung and Mr. Felix Tsang will share their experience with recent case studies in tackling tax problems for charities, including:-

1. Update on IRD’s latest focus of review on charities
2. Charities’ common misunderstanding about tax
3. Practical solutions for charities’ common tax issues reviewed by the IRD
4. Real life case sharing

Speaker(s)

Mr. Philip Hung​, Director, Tax Controversy Services, PwC

Philip has over 30 years' experience in Hong Kong taxation with six years in IRD. He is a well-known expert in the tax field and investigation specialty. After he left the IRD, Philip concentrated in assisting clients in handling tax investigation and field audit cases. He is the first to set up a specialized team to handle the IRD’s tax investigation and field audit cases for clients in the industry. His clients include charitable institutions, fund managers, SME, listed companies and various MNC. He assisted in handling complicated cases such as the IRD’s review on major charitable institutions, worldwide onshore/offshore claim, disputes on contracting processing and import processing arrangements, offshore claim for Macao Offshore Company, IRD prosecution case and transfer pricing adjustments.

Mr. Felix Tsang, Senior Manager, Tax Controversy Services, PwC

Felix has over 15 years of experience in tax audits and tax dispute resolution for MNCs, fund management groups, local SMEs as well as charitable institutions. In particular, he assisted various major charities and their related parties in resolving tax audits and review cases with the IRD. He also handled cases on a diverse range of issues such as offshore claims, cross-border transactions, transfer pricing and anti-avoidance. Felix also has extensive experience on tax advisory projects including application for tax exemption for charities, tax health check, defence file building, post-tax-audit restructuring and tax due diligence.