Registration, banking and utilities in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong ID card

Anyone staying more than 180 days must register for an HKID, and the application is made within 30 days of arrival at a Registration of Persons office run by the Immigration Department. Appointments are booked online and the card is issued shortly after. It is the identity document for banking, hospitals, government services and most contracts, and you will be asked to produce it constantly.

• Book the Registration of Persons appointment online before you arrive if you can.
• Bring your passport and your entry documents; the specific evidence depends on your status.
• Carry the card. Police may ask to see proof of identity.

Banking and payments

Opening an account is more paperwork than it once was, and banks apply anti-money-laundering checks seriously. Expect to bring your HKID, passport, proof of a Hong Kong address and an employment letter. Once open, the FPS instant transfer system moves money between banks and wallets by phone number, and the Octopus card handles small everyday payments in shops as well as on transport.

• Bring HKID, passport, proof of address and a letter from your employer to the branch appointment.
• A tenancy agreement plus a utility bill is the usual proof of address; a stamped tenancy helps.
• FPS handles bank-to-bank transfers; cheques are still used for deposits and some agency payments.

Tax and the MPF

Salaries tax is assessed after the year of assessment ends on 31 March, and you pay it in one or two instalments rather than through payroll. The provisional tax mechanism means you settle the year just gone and pay ahead for the year running, which is what produces the alarming first bill. Separately, employers and employees contribute to the Mandatory Provident Fund, a capped monthly contribution to a retirement scheme you choose from a list.

• The tax year runs 1 April to 31 March; returns go out in May.
• Budget for provisional tax — the first assessment covers more than twelve months of liability.
• MPF contributions are a fixed percentage of relevant income up to a cap, matched by the employer.
• Rules and rates change; confirm your position with the Inland Revenue Department or an accountant.

Utilities and connectivity

Electricity is supplied by CLP in Kowloon and the New Territories and by HK Electric on Hong Kong Island and Lamma — geography decides, not you. Towngas supplies piped gas in most urban buildings; some older or outlying flats use bottled LPG. Water comes through the Water Supplies Department. All of them want a deposit and a copy of the tenancy when you open an account, and broadband is fast, cheap and usually tied to a two-year contract.

• Utility accounts need the tenancy agreement and your HKID.
• Deposits are refundable at the end of the account, and slow to come back.
• Broadband contracts commonly run 24 months with an early-termination charge.

In order

1. 1Book a Registration of Persons appointment and apply for the HKID within 30 days of arrival.
2. 2Sign and stamp the tenancy — it is your proof of address.
3. 3Open a bank account with HKID, passport, address proof and employer letter.
4. 4Buy an Octopus card and register it, so a lost card can be cancelled.
5. 5Open CLP or HK Electric, Towngas and water accounts in your own name.
6. 6Enrol in an MPF scheme through your employer.
7. 7Set money aside monthly for the salaries tax demand note.