Overview

• Hong Kong's tax authority has issued backdated tax demands totaling over HK$1 million to at least 20 journalists, media heads, and their families.
• Journalists and media organizations were required to prepay partial amounts ranging from HK$90,000 to HK$300,000 despite requests for postponement.
• The Hong Kong Journalists Association criticized the audits as unfounded and damaging to press freedom, citing unreasonable claims such as non-existent business registrations.
• The Inland Revenue Department maintains that its procedures are standard and unbiased, denying claims of targeting specific industries or individuals.
• The tax audits are seen as part of a broader crackdown on dissent, following media shutdowns, sedition prosecutions, and national security laws enacted since 2019.