The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has said it has been ordered to pay HK$730,000 in provisional taxes within days and accused the city’s tax authorities of misallocating public resources with independent media audits.
HKJA chairwoman Selina Cheng held a press conference on Monday morning – ahead of an Inland Revenue Department (IRD) press conference in the afternoon – to unveil the tax demand and update on the tax scrutiny facing media outlets and individuals associated with the independent media industry.
Cheng said the HKJA received a letter from the IRD on April 13, demanding that the press union “pay HK$730,000 in provisional tax within two days”.
This year’s amount is more than double last year, when HKJA had to pay HK$300,000 in prepaid taxes.
In May of last year, the syndicate revealed for the first time that the city’s independent news sector has been facing simultaneous tax audits and backlogsaffecting six media outlets, including HKFP, and 20 individuals associated with the independent media sector.
Since then, the union has been notified of a “small number” of new cases, Cheng added, without elaborating.
Cheng also said four tax investigations had since been closed, including those of the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) and InMedia.
The HKFP tax probe was settled with a payment of HK$57,692, including penalties, last year, following a 20-month investigation involving seven years of data. The HKFP chose to settle to avoid the potential deterrent cost of further contesting a modest non-compliance.
of alleged underpayment HK$3,020 in assessment year 2021-22 it was worth 0.78 percent of HKFP’s revenue that year.
“The settlement paid by HKFP represented a 135 percent surcharge, which exceeded the maximum surcharge set by the IRD for a penalty imposed after prompt and full disclosure,” Cheng said.
“The highest penalty increase for a quick disclosure after receiving a tax investigation is 100 per cent, according to the IRD.”
InMedia contested its tax claim, finding it owed nothing in taxes, but had to pay HK$40,000 in administrative and accounting fees to challenge the investigation, the HKJA chief said.
“They were found not to be at fault, but they spent HK$40,000 on audit and accounting fees, as well as countless hours they spent themselves handling documents and books,” Cheng said.
She added that the tax audits of a journalist and an independent journalist had also been closed.
‘Unnecessary stress and unfair punishment’
Cheng said the IRD’s investigations into the independent media industry had diverted public resources from identifying unpaid taxes by high-net-worth individuals and companies with a clear intention to evade taxes.
She noted that settlements from investigations paled in comparison to the average back pay and fine, which reached HK$1.6 million in the 2025-26 tax year and HK$1.7 million a year earlier, according to official figures and union calculations.
“I accept that for the purpose of law enforcement, there should be some random checks, but it is clear that this is not random,” she said of the IRD’s tax checks in the media sector. “It also imposes undue stress and unfair punishment on the media.”
The tax investigations also appeared to be in line with practices in countries that have accused journalists of tax evasion and fraud “to undermine their credibility,” Cheng said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon, Inland Revenue Commissioner Benjamin Chan dismissed claims that the department had targeted the media sector, adding that the IRD was unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy conditions.
“In our procedures, the IRD does not consider the background or occupation of taxpayers. We are only looking at whether there is any risk of a case not paying or avoiding tax,” he said.
