Status the text uses

Any purchaser, for ad valorem stamp duty on residential property under Part 1 of Scale 1 and Scale 2 of the Stamp Duty Ordinance (Cap. 117), and on non-residential property under Scale 3. Hong Kong permanent resident acting on their own behalf who owns no other residential property in Hong Kong, for the claim to have residential ad valorem stamp duty charged under Scale 2 rather than Part 1 of Scale 1. Since 28 February 2024 the two carry the same rates, so the status no longer changes the amount due. Until then it also decided whether a buyer paid the higher flat rate under Part 1 of Scale 1 and Buyer's Stamp Duty. Indigenous villager, for the New Territories Small House Policy, which the Lands Department defines as a male person at least 18 years old descended through the male line from a resident in 1898 of a recognized village. Owner of land or buildings in Hong Kong, for property tax on rental income.

What the text supports

The official texts read for this page contain no rule that limits who may buy residential or non-residential property in Hong Kong by nationality or residence. No official page read says in terms that foreigners may buy, so this is a finding about those texts rather than a quoted rule. Under Article 7 of the Basic Law, the land within Hong Kong is State property, and the Hong Kong Government is responsible for its lease or grant to individuals, legal persons or organizations. The Rating and Valuation Department states that land in Hong Kong is normally held from the Government by way of a Government lease. A buyer therefore normally acquires an interest held under a Government lease, whatever the buyer's nationality.

Until 27 February 2024, Buyer's Stamp Duty was charged on residential purchases unless the buyer was a Hong Kong permanent resident acquiring the property on their own behalf, and Special Stamp Duty was charged on resales within a set period. The Government announced in its 2024-25 Budget that all demand-side management measures for residential property would end with effect from 28 February 2024, so that Special Stamp Duty, Buyer's Stamp Duty and New Residential Stamp Duty are no longer charged. The Chief Executive made the Public Revenue Protection (Stamp Duty) Order 2024 to give the change the force of law that day. The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (Ord. No. 8 of 2024), published in the Gazette on 19 April 2024, is deemed to have come into operation at 11 am on 28 February 2024. It lowered the rates of Special Stamp Duty and Buyer's Stamp Duty to 0 percent and replaced the flat rate of ad valorem stamp duty under Part 1 of Scale 1 with rates that match Scale 2. Instruments executed before that date, or made under an earlier agreement between the same parties on the same terms, stay under the old rules.

Every buyer of residential property now pays ad valorem stamp duty at the same rates, charged on the consideration or the value of the property, whichever is higher. Two later amendments changed that scale. The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 (Ord. No. 12 of 2025), deemed to operate from 11 am on 26 February 2025, set the duty at HK$100 where the consideration does not exceed HK$4,000,000. The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2026 (Ord. No. 3 of 2026), gazetted on 29 May 2026 and deemed to operate from 26 February 2026, raised the rate on residential property above HK$100 million from 4.25 percent to 6.5 percent and moved non-residential property to a new Scale 3, which keeps the earlier rates. For residential instruments executed on or after 26 February 2026, the duty runs from HK$100 up to HK$4,000,000, through bands of 1.5 to 4.25 percent with marginal relief between them, then HK$4,250,000 plus 30 percent of the excess over HK$100,000,000 from HK$100,000,001 to HK$109,574,470, and 6.5 percent on HK$109,574,471 and above.

One land policy turns on ancestry rather than nationality. Under the New Territories Small House Policy, only an indigenous villager, a male person at least 18 years old descended through the male line from a resident in 1898 of a recognized village, may apply to build a small house on a site in his own village. The policy governs who may apply to build such a house. The pages read do not state that it limits who may buy an existing village house.

Hong Kong records property under a deeds registration system, kept by the Land Registry under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128). On 16 October 2026 the Government gazetted eight pieces of subsidiary legislation, which it said would be tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on 21 October 2026, to start title registration on new land in the first half of 2027, on a date to be set by the Secretary for Development. New land means land held under a government lease granted on or after the date the amended ordinance comes into operation. Existing land stays on the deeds registration system until it is converted. Neither system sets a nationality test.

The costs of holding and selling that the pages read describe do not depend on the owner's nationality or residence. Rates are charged on a property's rateable value. For 2026-27, domestic property with a rateable value of HK$550,000 or below pays 5 percent. Above that, the Rating and Valuation Department's progressive scale charges 5 percent on the first HK$550,000, 8 percent on the next HK$250,000 and 12 percent on the remainder. Both the owner and the occupier are liable for rates, and without an agreement to the contrary the liability rests with the occupier. Government rent under the Government Rent (Assessment and Collection) Ordinance (Cap. 515) is 3 percent of rateable value on the leases that ordinance covers, and the owner is liable for it. Property tax is charged on the owners of land or buildings in Hong Kong at the standard rate of 15 percent on the net assessable value, which is the rent and other consideration, less rates paid by the owner, less a 20 percent statutory allowance for repairs and outgoings. Profits tax, which is charged on persons carrying on a trade, profession or business in Hong Kong, excludes profits arising from the sale of capital assets, and the Inland Revenue Department's guide states that the charge draws no distinction between residents and non-residents. Lending is not covered here.

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Official sources

Full method and the matrix: Foreign and non-resident buyer rules.