What is IR56B? Explanatory Notes & Filing with Talenox for Free (30 Days)

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Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the latest updates in Hong Kong’s tax filing procedures for the year 2026.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who file taxes early and those who file their taxes as early as a day before the deadline. As tax season gets off to a start in Hong Kong, many SMEs and first-time business owners will be scrambling to get their accounts and numbers in order. This is especially hard if you have to do it all by yourself.

Hence, we’ve put together everything you need to know about IR56B submission. Whether you’re filing it for the first time or for the nth number of times, you’ll find something useful in this article. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the IR56B form, its requirements, and the latest changes.

What is IR56B?

The IR56B form is an annual return that employers in Hong Kong must file to report the remuneration of their employees. This includes salaries, benefits, and pensions paid during the assessment year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) uses this information to assess the tax contributions of individual employees.

The form requires the following information for each employee:

1. Personal particulars
2. Job position in the company
3. All salary, benefits and pensions they receive

IR56B submissions must be done every year in April, and IRD will calculate the taxes pertaining to the salary earned from 1st April of the previous year to 31st March of the current year.

Example: When filling in April 2026, you are filling based on payroll records from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026.

When is the submission timeline?

Normally for each year, the IRD will issue Form BIR56A (Employer’s Return) to employers on April 1. Employers are then required to complete and submit both the BIR56A and the corresponding IR56B forms within one month of receiving BIR56A.

Failure to meet this deadline can result in penalties, including fines up to HK$10,000.

Hence, to give an approximate date range, it should be between 1st April – 30th April.

If an employer fail to file the tax returns, he/she can be charged under Hong Kong law by IRD. Depending on the severity of the offence, the Inland Revenue Commissioner can require that:

• the company pay additional tax as a penalty,
• the company pay a fine, or
• the person authorised to complete the tax return forms is imprisoned.  

What are the requirements for filing IR56B?

According to the tax obligations stipulated by IRD, you’ll have to report your employees’ income tax if she or he is:

• Is single and earned an annual income of HK$132,000 or more
• Is married, regardless of income
• Is a part-time staff member, regardless of income
• Is a director, regardless of income

This includes employees who provided services in or outside Hong Kong.

As an employer (with regards to filing an Employer’s Return in Hong Kong), you’ll need to record the following information for your employees immediately upon hire:

1. Personal particulars (name, address, HKID or passport number, marital status)
2. Job title and nature of employment (full-time or part-time)
3. Salary and other remuneration details
4. Non-cash benefits (e.g., housing, stock and share options, vacation allowances, etc)
5. Employer and employee contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF)
6. Employment contract details and any amendments
7. Period of employment

You should keep these records for at least 7 years, and update the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) accordingly if there are any changes.

Additional information the form submission

Form	Employment Condition	Statutory Period for Notification	Reference in Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO)	Remarks
IR56B	Still under employment as at 31 March	1 – 31 April	section 52(2)	Must be submitted together with BIR56A

The IRD encourages employers to file the IR56B forms electronically via the eTAX platform. As of April 1, 2024, submissions via removable storage devices are no longer accepted. Employers can use the IR56 Forms Preparation Tool to prepare and submit the data files online. This tool allows for the preparation of up to 2,000 sets of IR56B records in a single data file.

A more convenient way is through the use of payroll software such as Talenox, which comes with everything you need for a smooth filing process – from your employees’ particulars to their last salary payment details. 

How to file IR56B for free on Talenox

Check out the video below on how you can easily fill in IR56B forms in a few clicks. Do note that:

• As long as you’ve ran payroll on Talenox for the past financial year, you can easily print out IR56B forms from Talenox to mail to IRD.
• If you’ve not run payroll with Talenox in the past financial year, you can still sign up for a free 30-day Talenox trial anytime and process payroll for the entire financial year first, and then generate the form immediately.

Talenox even has a Tax module for your employees to view and download their tax forms directly from their Talenox account. This eliminates the manual step of having to print out the tax forms to share with each of your employee for reference.

A Talenox subscription will also allow you to fill out and print forms IR56B, IR56E, IR56F, and IR56G. 

Additional reading on IRD and IR56B

• Electronic filing of employer’s return
• Tax information for employers
• Notes and instructions for IR56B (PDF)
• A Brief Guide to Employee Tax Submission in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Employer’s Return and IR56 – The Basics