Stamp duty on a lease by term and rent.
Lease stamp duty
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Average yearly rent
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Rate applied
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Your breakdown
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The duty almost every tenancy in Hong Kong attracts
When a landlord and tenant sign a lease, the agreement is a chargeable document, and the Inland Revenue Department levies stamp duty on it. The amount is not a flat fee. It is a percentage of the average yearly rent over the term, and the percentage rises with the length of the lease. This calculator takes your monthly rent, annualises it, picks the rate that matches your term, and shows the duty. It is built for tenants signing a new tenancy, landlords budgeting the cost of letting, and agents who need a quick figure before paperwork goes out.
Stamp duty on a lease has nothing to do with the ad valorem duty on buying a property, and it is a world away from the abolished demand-side duties that once applied to residential purchases. It is a modest, predictable charge, but skipping it carries real penalties, so it is worth getting right.
How the rate climbs with the term
The structure is three steps. For a term not exceeding one year, the rate this calculator applies is 0.25 percent of the average yearly rent. For a term over one year but not more than three years, it is 0.5 percent. For a term over three years, it is 1 percent. The logic is simple: the longer the landlord locks in the arrangement, the larger the duty. These rates are the calculator's working assumptions, drawn from the IRD's lease stamp duty scale, and you should confirm the current figures with the Inland Revenue Department before stamping, since published schedules can be revised.
A two-year lease at $22,000 a month
Using the defaults, the monthly rent is $22,000, so the average yearly rent is $264,000. A two-year term falls in the over-one-to-three-year band, which carries a 0.5 percent rate. The duty is 0.5 percent of $264,000, which is $1,320.
The same flat is four times dearer to stamp on a long lease than a short one, because the rate quadruples from 0.25 to 1 percent. That is rarely a reason to choose a shorter term, but it is worth knowing before you sign a five-year deal.
Deadlines, who pays, and the trap with rent-free periods
The lease should be stamped within 30 days of signing. Miss the window and the IRD can charge a late-stamping penalty that dwarfs the duty itself, so this is one of those small bills that is far cheaper paid on time. By custom, landlord and tenant split the duty equally, though the lease can say otherwise, and both parties are jointly liable, meaning the IRD can pursue either if it goes unpaid. A point that trips people up: if the lease includes a rent-free fitting-out period or stepped rent, the average yearly rent the duty is based on is the average over the whole term, not the headline monthly figure, so a lease with variable rent needs the average worked out before you apply the rate.
There is no GST on rent in Hong Kong and no separate letting tax for the tenant, so for most renters this stamp duty is the only government charge on the tenancy. Landlords, separately, may have property tax on the rental income, which is a different calculation entirely.
Is there a fixed fee on top of the percentage duty?
Yes, in addition to the ad valorem amount, a small fixed duty applies to the counterpart of the lease, the duplicate copy each party keeps. It is a nominal sum rather than a percentage, so it barely moves the total, but it is part of getting the document fully stamped. Check the current fixed-duty amount with the Inland Revenue Department.
Does a tenancy renewal need stamping again?
Generally yes. A renewal or a new fixed term is a fresh chargeable agreement, so the duty applies again based on the new term and rent. Simply staying on after a lease expires on a month-to-month basis can be treated differently, so if you are rolling over rather than signing a new document, confirm the position with the IRD rather than assuming no duty is due.