MPF for Overseas Founders in Hong Kong: Do You Need It?
Overseas founders may not need MPF for themselves. Learn when MPF applies, key exemptions, and the rules for hiring staff in Hong Kong companies.
Key Takeaways
- Owning a Hong Kong company does not automatically create an MPF obligation. MPF generally applies to people employed in Hong Kong, not simply to company owners.
- Overseas founders working entirely outside Hong Kong are generally outside the MPF system.
- A founder employed in Hong Kong may be exempt if their visa permits a stay of 13 months or less, or if they remain an active member of an overseas retirement scheme.
- The 13-month exemption does not renew automatically. If the stay is extended beyond 13 months, MPF enrolment may become due within 60 days.
- Once you hire an eligible employee in Hong Kong, you generally need to enrol them in an MPF scheme within 60 days, including the probation period.
- Standard mandatory contributions are generally 5% from the employer and 5% from the employee, subject to the applicable income thresholds and caps.
- Failing to enrol eligible employees or make contributions on time can lead to significant penalties and surcharges.
Learn when overseas founders of Hong Kong companies need MPF, the main exemptions, the 60-day enrolment rule, and what changes when you hire employees in Hong Kong.
Frequently Asked Questions
A : Usually not for themselves. MPF is Hong Kong's compulsory retirement scheme (Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, Cap. 485) and follows work performed in Hong Kong, not company ownership. A founder taking only director's fees and dividends, or working entirely from abroad, is outside MPF — it becomes mandatory the day the company employs someone in Hong Kong.
A : MPF is Hong Kong's compulsory retirement savings scheme. For every covered employee — employed in Hong Kong, aged 18 to 64, for 60 days or more — the employer pays 5% of monthly income and the employee pays 5% into the employee's own account. The employee's side is waived below HK$7,100 a month; both cap at HK$1,500 above HK$30,000.
A : If you take up employment in Hong Kong, two exemptions exist for people from overseas: an employment visa permitting a stay of 13 months or less, or active membership of an overseas retirement scheme. Either makes you exempt — but the 13-month one expires: stay past that and enrollment is due within 60 days, and it never renews.
cFrom your first Hong Kong hire. You must enroll an eligible employee within 60 days of employment starting, and probation counts inside those 60 days. Contributions then run monthly at 5% each; records must be kept for seven years.
A : Failing to enroll an eligible employee carries fines up to HK$350,000 and up to three years' imprisonment, plus a 5% surcharge on late contributions. And exemption from MPF is not exemption from everything — the employer's returns still apply to salaries and fees.
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