Hong Kong ranked 4th-best business location in latest World Bank Doing Business report

November 2016

The city is also ranked among the world's top-five business destinations in five of the report's ten key criteria, as well as retaining its position as a top-three tax centre

The 2017 World Bank Doing Business report shows another stellar performance from Hong Kong, with the city ranked in fourth place among the world's most business-friendly jurisdictions, up one place on last year. The city is also awarded top-five rankings for ease of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, access to electricity, protecting minority shareholders, and ease of paying taxes.

Now in its 14th year, the World Bank Doing Business report assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 190 economies, ranking each on the basis of 11 criteria impacting the ease of doing business in any jurisdiction. Russell Bedford member firms have contributed to the report's Paying Taxes survey since 2009, collating data on tax regulation, recent reforms and the comparative compliance burdens on entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide.

The report's Paying Taxes survey is this year extended to cover post-filing processes - including the complexities involved in securing VAT refunds and procedures around tax audits.

Ranked in third place in the Paying Taxes survey, Hong Kong maintains its high performance under these new criteria, shown as requiring only three hours to comply with a tax audit, and achieving a score of 97.2 per cent.

James Ngai, managing partner of Russell Bedford Hong Kong and a regional director of Russell Bedford International, commented: "It is gratifying to see Hong Kong maintaining its position as one of the world's most tax-friendly jurisdictions - and to see this maintained under the bank's new research into post-filing procedures."