Business Registration search: Hong Kong

A Business Registration search returns a business's record from the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department, which registers every business carried on in Hong Kong under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310). The result is the Business Registration Certificate and the current particulars on the business register: the business name, the business registration number, the business address, the nature of business, the date of commencement and the certificate's period of validity. For a sole proprietorship or partnership it also shows the operator; for a company it is the company itself.

Most Hong Kong onboarding checklists ask for the certificate, so banks, payment firms and insurers order it with the company particulars and the latest annual return. Procurement teams order it for unincorporated suppliers, which have no Companies Registry record. The business registration number is also the company's tax identification number and, since 27 December 2023, the Companies Registry's unique business identifier.

Send the business name or its business registration number. The certificate and the particulars come back as a PDF in the same thread, or through the API. The Inland Revenue Department requires a personal data declaration for extracts on sole proprietorships and partnerships; the agent asks for what it needs before proceeding. The register does not hold businesses that ceased ten or more years ago.