Form IR56E — Notification of an Employee who Commences to be Employed

What is Form IR56E?

Form IR56E, 'Notification by an Employer of an Employee who Commences to be Employed', is made under section 52(4) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. It tells the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) who you have taken on, from when, in what job and on what terms, so the IRD can open or update the employee's Salaries Tax file. The form must be completed and returned within 3 months from the date the employment commences.

It is a one-page form, but it is easy to trip over: the name goes into 27 boxes surname-first with a comma, the Hong Kong Identity Card number is split into letter, digits and check digit, several answers are 0/1 or M/F codes, and the monthly fixed income goes into boxes that exclude cents. Household employers without an employer's file number or business registration number give their own HKID number instead.

FileIt walks you through Form IR56E question by question and prints your answers into the IRD's own PDF (the 12/2022 edition). It pre-fills the employee's name and your business name and address from the People records in your vault, checks the HKID check digit, strikes out the titles that don't apply, and files the finished PDF in the employee's folder. You then print it, sign it by hand and post it yourself — FileIt never files anything with the IRD.

Who needs to fill out Form IR56E?

• Hong Kong companies taking on a new full-time or part-time employee.
• Sole proprietors and partnerships hiring staff, who give their employer's file number or, if they don't have one yet, their business registration number.
• Households employing a domestic helper or other household staff who have no employer's file number or business registration number — the form lets them give their own HKID number at item 1.
• Employers receiving a person assigned or seconded to their Hong Kong company by an overseas parent or subsidiary.
• Employers correcting an IR56E they already sent, by filing a replacement form.

When to use Form IR56E

• As soon as practical after a new employee starts, and in any case within 3 months of the commencement date.
• When an employee's HKID number isn't known yet: file with the passport number and place of issue, then tell the IRD the HKID number as soon as it is known.
• To correct details in an IR56E already submitted, tick 'Replacement' and give the date the earlier form was sent.
• When a new employee was conditionally granted a share option before starting in Hong Kong that can be exercised after working here, answer 1 at item 13 and attach the details.

What you need before you start

• Your employer's file number with the IRD, or your business registration number — or, for a household employer with neither, your HKID number.
• Your business name (required) and address.
• The employee's full name in English as on their HKID card or passport, and their HKID number with its check digit — or passport number and place of issue.
• The employee's sex, marital status and, if married, the spouse's full name and HKID or passport number (if known).
• The employee's residential address and, if different, their postal address.
• The job title, the commencement date and the monthly rate of fixed income in whole Hong Kong dollars.
• Any monthly allowance, fluctuating income such as commission or bonus, and details of any housing provided with the rents involved.
• Whether a non-Hong Kong company pays part of the salary, and its name and address.
• Share option details, if a conditional option was granted before the employment began.

What’s on Form IR56E

The 2022 edition has 1 page. FileIt asks for it in 5 parts:

1. Type of notificationEmployer
2. 1. Particulars of the employerEmployer
3. 2–9. Particulars of the employeeEmployer
4. 10–13. Commencement and terms of employmentEmployer
5. SignatureEmployer

How to fill out Form IR56E, step by step

1 Replacement box

Leave it blank for a first notification. If you are correcting an IR56E you already sent, tick 'Replacement – correcting the form submitted' and give that form's submission date as DD/MM/YYYY. The IRD recommends a replacement form for any correction of details reported before.

2 1. Particulars of the employer

Give your employer's file number in its two parts (three characters, then eight). If you don't have one yet, put your business registration number in the eight boxes instead. A household employer with neither gives their Hong Kong Identity Card number on the line below.

The name of the employer must include the business name, followed by the employer's address. FileIt pre-fills the name and address from the employer linked to the employee in your vault.

3 2. Name of employee

Write the English name surname first, followed by a comma and then the given name — the form's own example is CHAN, TAI MAN. FileIt builds this line for you and checks it fits the 27 boxes. The form prints 'Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss' and asks you to delete whichever doesn't apply; FileIt strikes the others through.

There is also a box for the full name in Chinese. FileIt can't print Chinese characters, so leave it blank and write the Chinese name in by hand on the printed form if the employee has one.

4 3–5. Identity, sex and marital status

Item 3(a), the HKID number, must be completed if the employee has one: the letter or letters, six digits and the check digit in brackets. FileIt checks that the check digit matches. Only if the employee has no Hong Kong Identity Card do you give a passport number and place of issue at 3(b).

Item 4 takes M or F and item 5 takes 1 (single, widowed, divorced or living apart) or 2 (married).

5 6–9. Spouse, addresses and capacity

If the employee is married, give the spouse's full name and, if known, their HKID or passport number. Then the employee's residential address, a postal address if it is different, and the capacity in which they are employed — the job title, such as Accounts Clerk or Domestic Helper. The IRD asks employers to supply the latest address and to remind employees to tell it of a change of postal address within one month.

6 10–11. Commencement and terms of employment

Item 10 is the date the employment commenced, in day, month and year boxes. Item 11(a), the monthly rate of fixed income, must be completed in whole Hong Kong dollars — the form says exclude cents — and FileIt right-aligns the figure in its boxes. Item 11(b) is any monthly allowance, such as a cost of living allowance, and 11(c) any fluctuating income such as commission, bonus or gratuities.

Item 11(d) asks whether a place of residence is provided (0 or 1). If it is, give its address, its nature (house, flat, serviced apartment, number of hotel rooms) and the monthly rents paid to the landlord by the employer or employee, refunded to the employee, or paid to the employer.

7 12. Payment by a non-Hong Kong company

Answer 1 if the employee is wholly or partly paid, in Hong Kong or elsewhere, by a non-Hong Kong company, and give that company's name and address; otherwise 0. This box must be completed.

8 13. Conditional share options

Answer 1 if the employee was conditionally granted a share option before starting in Hong Kong that can be exercised after rendering services in Hong Kong. You then attach a sheet with the number and type of shares covered, any consideration paid for the grant, the consideration required to exercise the option and the period within which it must be exercised.

9 Signature

The form is signed with the name, designation and date of the responsible person, with space for the employer's official chop. The IRD's completion notes list who may sign: the proprietor, the precedent partner, a company secretary, manager or director, an investment manager of an open-ended fund company, a provisional liquidator or liquidator, the principal officer of a body of persons, or an agent for a non-resident person.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Missing the deadline — the form is due within 3 months from the commencement date.
• Writing the name given-name first, or without the comma, instead of SURNAME, GIVEN NAME.
• Giving a passport number when the employee already has an HKID number — the IRD uses the HKID number to avoid opening duplicate tax files.
• Getting the HKID check digit wrong; FileIt checks it against the number.
• Including cents in the monthly fixed income, or reporting a figure in another currency without converting it to Hong Kong dollars.
• Leaving the 0/1 boxes at items 11(d), 12 and 13 empty — they must be completed.
• Sending a photocopy, fax or scan, or using a name chop or printed signature — only an originally signed form is accepted.
• Forgetting to give the employee a copy of the completed form.

After you fill it out

Print the form on white plain A4 paper, and have the responsible person sign it by hand in blue or black ink. The IRD's completion notes say an originally signed form must be submitted: photocopies, fax copies and scanned copies are not acceptable, and neither is a name chop, a printed signature or someone signing on behalf of the named person. Add your official chop in the space provided if you have one.

Post the signed form to the Inland Revenue Department at P.O. Box 28777, Concorde Road Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong, and give the employee a copy. If you prefer, the same information can be reported through the IRD's Employer's Return e-Filing Services instead of the paper form.

FileIt keeps the completed PDF in the employee's vault folder, so you have the exact details you reported when the annual Employer's Return (BIR56A and IR56B) comes round, or when the employee later leaves and you need Form IR56F or IR56G.

Form IR56E: frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Blank form (PDF), published by Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Hong Kong: https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/ir56e.pdf
• Official instructions and guidance: https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/ir56e_completion_e.pdf
• Edition shown on this page: IR56E (12/2022) (checked 2026-09-26).

FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Hong Kong or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-09-26.

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