Customs and Excise Department

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HKSAR is a free port. There is no tariff on general imports. However, there is duty on liquors, tobacco, hydrocarbon oil and methyl alcohol. This is prepaid by the seller and included in the price, so it often goes unnoticed. Duties on these goods raise revenue for the general administration and for development projects, while at the same time help to keep general tax levels low.

The Customs and Excise Department is responsible for enforcing the law for collection of duties and protection of revenue.

For tobacco, hydrocarbon oil and methyl alcohol, duties are charged at specific rates per unit quantity. For liquors, duty is assessed at different percentages of their values on the basis of three different categories defined broadly according to alcoholic strength. The duty rates prescribed in the Schedule to the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (Cap. 109) are extracted as below :
  * Duty on Liquor
* Duty on Tobacco
* Duty on Hydrocarbon Oil
* Duty on Methyl Alcohol
 
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Duty on Liquor
 
  1. Duty shall be payable on the following types of liquor at the rates, expressed as a percentage of the value (calculated in accordance with section 26A of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance), set out opposite each type of liquor :

    Type of Liquor : Rate
    Liquor with an alcoholic strength of more than 30% by volume measured at a temperature of 20*C 100%
    Liquor, other than wine, with an alcoholic strength of not more than 30% by volume measured at a temperature of 20*C 0%
    Wine 0%
 
  1. Where there is no or insufficient information available from which the Commissioner of Customs and Excise (or any officer authorized by him in that behalf) is able to determine the value of any quantity of liquor of less than 12 litres, imported at any time in one consignment, he may assess the duty payable on such liquor at the rate of HK$160 per litre.
 
 
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Duty on Tobacco
 
  1. Duty shall be payable on tobacco at the following rates -

    (a)  for each 1 000 cigarettes HK$804
    (b)  cigars HK$1035/kg
    (c)  Chinese prepared tobacco HK$197/kg
    (d)  all other manufactured tobacco except tobacco intended for the manufacture of cigarettes

    HK$974/kg
 
  1. For the purpose of applying the duty under paragraph 1(a) a cigarette more than 90 mm long, excluding any filter or mouthpiece, shall be treated as if each additional 90 mm or portion of 90 mm were a separate cigarette.
 
 
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Duty on Hydrocarbon Oil
 
  1. Duty shall be payable on hydrocarbon oil (other than ultra low sulphur diesel and Euro V diesel) at the following rates per litre ¡V
    (a) aircraft spirit HK$6.51
    (b) light diesel oil HK$2.89
    (c) motor spirit (leaded petrol) HK$6.82
    (d) motor spirit (unleaded petrol)

    HK$6.06
1A. Duty shall be payable on ultra low sulphur diesel at the following rates -
 
(a) from 7 July 2000 to 31 December 2008 (both dates inclusive), at $1.11 per litre; and
(b) from 1 January 2009, at $2.89 per litre.
   
1B. Duty shall be payable on Euro V diesel at the following rates -
 
(a) from 1 December 2007 to 13 July 2008 (both dates inclusive), at $0.56 per litre; and
(b) from 14 July 2008, at $0 per litre.
  1. Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise that light diesel oil on which duty has been paid under paragraph 1(b) has been used in road vehicles operated by the grantee of a franchise under section 5 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) in maintaining public bus services on specified routes as defined by section 2 of that Ordinance, a refund of duty paid on the light diesel oil so used may be granted by the Commissioner and subject to such conditions as the Commissioner may specify.

  2. Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise that light diesel oil on which duty has been paid under paragraph 1(b) has been used in road vehicles owned and operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation under section 4(1)(d) of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Cooperation Ordinance (Cap. 372) in maintaining bus services within the North-West Transit Service Area, a refund of duty paid on the light diesel oil so used may be granted by the Commissioner and subject to such conditions as the Commissioner may specify.

3A.
 Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that light diesel oil on which duty has been paid under paragraph 1(b) has been used in road vehicles operated by the MTR Corporation Limited in maintaining bus services within the North-west Transit Service Area referred to in paragraph 3 during the Concession Period within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556), a refund of duty paid on the light diesel oil so used may be granted by the Commissioner and subject to such conditions as the Commissioner may specify.

  1. Subject to such conditions as the Commissioner of Customs and Excise may impose for the protection of the revenue, duty payable on hydrocarbon oil for use by a disabled person within the meaning of section 2 of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) in a private car, invalid carriage, motor cycle or motor tricycle owned and driven by him shall be waived, such waiver to be subject:

    2. (a) in the case of a private car or an invalid carriage, to a limit of 200 litres per month; and
    (b) in the case of a motor cycle or motor tricycle, to a limit of 100 litres per month, for each such person.

  2. For the purposes of paragraph 1A, "ultra low sulphur diesel" () means a light diesel oil which -

    (a) contains not more than 0.005% by weight of sulphur as determined by ISO 14596;
    (b) has a cetane number of not less than 51.0 as determined by ISO 5165;
    (c) has a viscosity at 40*C of not less than 2.00 mm*/s and not more than 4.50 mm*/s as determined by ISO 3104;
    (d) has a 95% distillation temperature of not more than
    345*C as determined by ISO3405;
    (e) has a specific gravity at 15*C of not more than 0.835 as determined by ISO 3675; and
    (f) has a distillation percentage recovered at 250*C not more than 65% by volume as determined by ISO 3405.

  3. For the purposes of paragraph 1B, "Euro V diesel" () means a light diesel oil which -

    (a) contains not more than 10.0 mg/kg of sulphur as determined by ISO 20884;
    (b) has a cetane number of not less than 51.0 as determined by ISO 5165;
    (c) has a cetane index of not lower than 46.0 as determined by ISO 4264;
    (d) has a viscosity at 40*C of not lower than 2.00 mm*/s and not higher than 4.50 mm*/s as determined by ISO 3104;
    (e) contains not more than 11% by mass of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as determined by IP 391;
    (f) has a 95% distillation temperature of not higher than 360*C as determined by ISO 3405;
    (g) has a distillation percentage recovered at 250*C of lower than 65% by volume as determined by ISO 3405;
    (h) has a distillation percentage recovered at 350*C of not lower than 85% by volume as determined by ISO 3405;
    (i) has a density at 15*C of not lower than 0.820 kg/L and not higher than 0.845 kg/L as determined by ISO 3675;
    (j) has a flash point of above 55*C as determined by ISO 2719;
    (k) contains not more than 0.30% by mass of carbon residue (on 10% distillation residue) as determined by ISO 10370;
    (l) contains not more than 0.01% by mass of ash as determined by ISO 6245;
    (m) contains not more than 200 mg/kg of water as determined by ISO 12937;
    (n) contains total contamination of not more than 24 mg/kg as determined by ISO 12662;
    (o) has a copper strip corrosion (3h at 50*C) rating of Class 1 as determined by ISO 2160;
    (p) has an oxidation stability of not higher than 25 g/m* as determined by ISO 12205; and
    (q) has a lubricity, corrected wear scar diameter (wsd 1.4) at 60*C, of not higher than 460 £gm as determined by ISO 12156-1.
Note: In this Part ¢w
¡§IP¡¨ followed by a numerical symbol (¡§IP number¡¨) means the test procedures of the Institute of Petroleum commonly known by that IP number;
¡§ISO¡¨ followed by a numerical symbol (¡§ISO number¡¨) means the test procedures of the International Organization for Standardization commonly known by that ISO number;
¡§viscosity¡¨ (*) means the viscosity of diesel as determined by ISO 3104.
 
 
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Duty on Methyl Alcohol
 
  1. Duty shall be payable on methyl alcohol and any admixture containing methyl alcohol at the rate of HK$840 per hectolitre measured at a temperature of 20*C and in addition, for every 1% by which the alcoholic strength by volume exceeds 30%, HK$28.10 per hectolitre.







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