Hong Kong businessman jailed for tax evasion over false wage claims
A Hong Kong businessman was sentenced to prison and fined for evading HK$98,858 in taxes by falsely claiming HK$803,000 in workers' wages. He admitted four charges under the Inland Revenue Ordinance, including making false statements and assisting his wife's evasion.
A Hong Kong businessman has been sentenced to prison and fined for tax evasion, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced on 26 October 2026.
The defendant admitted four charges of wilfully evading tax, including one count of making a false statement in claiming deductions for workers' wages in his business for the 2013/14 assessment year; one count of signing an employer's tax return for his business for the 2013/14 year without reasonable belief that it was true; and two counts of using deceptive means to assist his wife in evading tax for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 assessment years, by declaring fictitious workers' wages as expenses of his wife's business to reduce assessable profits.
The charges were brought under sections 82(1)(c), (d) and (g) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Chapter 112). The total amount of falsely claimed wage expenses was HK$803,000, involving a tax shortfall of HK$98,858.
A spokesman for the Inland Revenue Department reminded taxpayers that the Inland Revenue Ordinance stipulates that tax evasion is a criminal offence. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for each charge is three years' imprisonment and a fine of HK$50,000, plus an additional penalty equal to three times the amount of tax undercharged.
The government did not disclose the exact length of the prison sentence or the total fine imposed in this case.
