Hong Kong Financial Secretary: Digital assets will be classified as qualified investments eligible for tax relief

The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Paul Chan, stated in his budget speech that in order to further attract family offices and funds to settle in Hong Kong, the tax system will be optimized, with digital assets, precious metals, and others listed as eligible investments for tax relief, planned to take effect from the 2025/2026 tax year.

In addition, the economic cooperation and development organization (OECD) framework for cryptocurrency asset reporting and the newly revised common reporting standards will be implemented over the next two years, in line with international efforts to enhance tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion. It is expected that the draft amendment to the Tax Ordinance will be submitted in the first half of the year. Chan also stated that the Hong Kong government will continue to regularly issue tokenized bonds, and a digital asset platform will be established within the year to support the issuance and settlement of digital bonds, gradually expanding to other digital assets and connecting with other tokenized platforms in the region.