Does Hong Kong have inheritance tax?

No. Hong Kong has no inheritance tax and no gift tax. Estate duty, the former death tax, was abolished for deaths occurring on or after 11 February 2006, so estates of people who died from that date pay nothing.

When was Hong Kong estate duty abolished?

Estate duty was abolished by the Revenue (Abolition of Estate Duty) Ordinance 2005, effective for deaths on or after 11 February 2006. The tool flags whether your date of death falls before or after that cut-off.

What happened to estates before 11 February 2006?

Deaths before that date were subject to a progressive estate-duty scale that rose to 15% on the largest estates, with thresholds and exemptions. The tool focuses on the current, nil position but warns when a date predates the abolition.

Are foreign assets in the estate taxed?

Hong Kong does not tax them, but assets located in other countries may be exposed to that country's inheritance or estate tax. Cross-border estates should be reviewed jurisdiction by jurisdiction, ideally with a specialist adviser.

Do beneficiaries pay any tax on what they inherit?

No Hong Kong tax arises simply from inheriting money or property. Beneficiaries may, however, face tax on future income the assets generate, such as rent, under the normal Hong Kong rules.

Hong Kong Inheritance Tax Calculator

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A Hong Kong inheritance tax calculator that settles a common question quickly: Hong Kong has no death taxes. Estate duty was abolished for deaths on or after 11 February 2006, and there is no separate inheritance or gift tax. For any modern estate, the duty payable is nil regardless of size.

How it works

The tool computes the net estate and applies the abolition rule:

net estate = gross estate - debts and allowable expenses
estate duty = 0   (for death on or after 2006-02-11)

It compares your date of death against the abolition date. Because dates in YYYY-MM-DD form sort the same way chronologically and alphabetically, a simple comparison decides whether the modern nil rule or the historical scale applies. For deaths from 11 February 2006 onward, the result is zero. For earlier deaths, the tool warns that the old progressive estate-duty scale (up to 15%) would have applied.

Example and notes

An estate worth 20,000,000 HKD with 2,000,000 HKD of debts has a net value of 18,000,000 HKD. For a death in 2026, the Hong Kong estate duty is 0 — nothing is payable, and the beneficiaries inherit free of any Hong Kong death tax.

This is an estimate of the Hong Kong position only. Assets held abroad may still attract inheritance or estate tax in those countries, so cross-border estates need jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction review.