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As a non-resident working in Hong Kong, you are liable to salaries tax. Salaries Tax is charged for every person in respect of his/her income arising in or derived from Hong Kong from any office or employment of profit and any pension. Income includes all income, perquisites and fringe benefits from the employer or others.

However, if your income is no more than the basic allowance ($132,000 in 2016/17) in the year of assessment (For example, the year of assessment 2015/16 covers the 12 months from 1/4/2015 to 31/3/2016.), you don’t need to pay salaries tax.
You can refer to this website for the updated basic allowance:
http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/pam61e.pdf

Your employer shall fill in an employer’s return and notification forms (IR56B and IR56M) and return them to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) before May of this year, therefore IRD will mail Tax Return – Individuals (BIR60) on the first working day of May to you. If it is your first time to pay tax, IRD will set up a new account for you, so your tax return forms mailing date is not fixed.
If you do not receive your tax return forms, you can notify IRD by filling in theIR6167 form (http://www.ird.gov.hk/chs/pdf/ir6167.pdf) within 4 months after a year of assessment (which is before July 31st).
If you receive your tax return forms, you must complete and return the forms to IRD within 1 month from the date the forms were sent.
You can make use of the online taxation calculator to calculate your tax:
http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/taxes/etax/services/tax_computation.htm
You must inform IRD immediately if you change your postal address. Please find the Notification of Change of Postal Address for your use.
http://www.ird.gov.hk/chi/pdf/ir1249.pdf

Provisional Salaries Tax of the following year is also required by IRD. Therefore the total salaries tax you need to pay is:
Total Salaries Tax for 2015/16 = Salaries Tax required 2015/16 + Provision Salaries Tax 2016/17 – Provision Salaries Tax 2015/16

Your salaries tax can be paid in 2 installments, in January and April of the following year separately.

Examples

A. I earned a salary of $40,000 and contributed $1,500 to a Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme per month as from 1 October 2015. How is Salaries Tax computed for 2015/16?

(*Note – Government Tax Refund) For 2015/16, 75% of the final tax payable under profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment would be waived, subject to a ceiling of $20,000 per case.

B.Do I have to pay Provisional Salaries Tax (PST) for 2016/17?
Yes, the Salaries Tax demand note for you consists of two components:

Calculation of PST for 2016/17 is based on the income for 2015/16, but grossed up to 12 months, as follows:

C.Questions A& B show that my total tax payable is $45,930 (Salaries Tax required 2015/16 [$1,830] + Provision Salaries Tax 2016/17 [$44,100]– Provision Salaries Tax 2015/16 [$0]. When do I pay? Do I pay by two instalments?
Normally you would be asked to pay the sum of $45,930 by 2 instalments as follows:

By 1 January 2017 you would have earned income for 9 months to 31 December 2016 (75% of annual income). By 1 April 2017 you would have earned income for the 12 months to 31 March 2017. Hence, paying provisional tax is not paying tax in advance, nor paying tax on future income.

Salaries Tax is chargeable on the smaller of your net chargeable income at progressive rates and your net total income at standard rate. In this regard,
(1) Net Chargeable Income = Total Income – Deductions – Allowances
(2) Net Total Income = Total Income – Deductions.
Tax rates for the year of assessment

Net chargeable income (net of allowances)

Net total income (no allowances)
Standard rate 15%