TLDR
- Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed a crypto tax-reporting bill on Nov. 4, 2026.
- Covered crypto providers must start collecting user information on Jan. 1, 2027.
- The Inland Revenue Department will begin sharing the data with partner jurisdictions in 2028.
- Updated financial account reporting rules take effect in 2028, with exchanges in 2029.
- The tax office will build a reporting portal and publish a data schema for providers.
Crypto customers in Hong Kong will have their trading details collected for tax purposes starting in 2027. The city’s Legislative Council passed a crypto tax-reporting bill on Nov. 4, 2026, which sets the timeline for the new rules.
The law is the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amended Common Reporting Standard) Bill 2026. It was gazetted on May 22, 2026, and introduced for its first reading on June 3, 2026.
Under the law, covered crypto providers must start collecting information on Jan. 1, 2027. The Inland Revenue Department will then begin sharing that data with partner jurisdictions in 2028.
What Information Providers Will Collect
The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, or CARF, sets due diligence and annual reporting rules for crypto service providers. Providers gather the required information and report it to the tax authority each year.
The required data includes identifying details, tax residence information, and aggregated transaction information. Providers must first identify which users are tax residents of reportable jurisdictions before they can prepare their reports.
The rules also cover controlling persons of entity users, such as companies. These people are also identified by their tax residence in reportable jurisdictions.
The framework is about tax transparency. It does not set any individual user’s tax bill.
Covered providers include businesses that exchange crypto for fiat currency, or one crypto for another, on behalf of customers. This includes counterparties, intermediaries, and trading platform operators. A provider’s duties depend on its link to a jurisdiction under the framework’s nexus rules.
🇭🇰 Hong Kong: Block Tax Alert 🚨
LegCo passes CARF crypto-reporting bill
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amended Common Reporting Standard) Bill 2026 on 4 November. The law will require relevant…
— Block Tax (@CryptoTaxG) November 5, 2026
A Second Timeline for Financial Accounts
The same bill updates the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS, which covers financial account information. The amended standard takes effect on Jan. 1, 2028, with exchanges starting in 2029.
This schedule runs separately from the crypto timeline. That means one law now sets two different reporting calendars.
Hong Kong has shared financial account data since its first automatic exchange law passed on June 22, 2016. That system requires financial institutions to identify accounts held by tax residents of reportable jurisdictions and report them every year.
Under the existing system, account holders may be asked to provide self-certifications, including their tax residence. For individuals, tax residence generally depends on physical presence, such as staying more than 183 days in a tax year.
The list of reportable jurisdictions grew from 75 in 2017 to 126 from Jan. 1, 2020. A separate amendment ordinance on automatic exchange was gazetted on June 26, 2026, and comes into operation on Jan. 1, 2027.
In December 2024, Hong Kong said it planned to finish the legislative changes by 2026 and begin crypto information exchanges in 2028. The Nov. 4 vote completes that legislative step before the first collection year.
Hong Kong says the exchanges will be reciprocal. They will also be subject to confidentiality and security safeguards.
The Inland Revenue Department has set up a dedicated team to give technical support and answer industry questions. It also plans to issue guidance on the new rules.
The department will build a CARF reporting portal and publish the data schema that defines the reporting format. It says more details will follow before providers begin collecting data in 2027.
