Insurance (Levy) Order
(Enacting provision omitted—E.R. 1 of 2018)
[1 January 2018]
(Omitted as spent—E.R. 1 of 2018)
In this Order—
inception anniversary date (開立周年日), in relation to a contract of insurance, means the day and month of each year that correspond to the inception date of the contract; inception date (開立日), in relation to a contract of insurance, means the date on which the first premium under the contract becomes payable; policy year (保單年度)—(a)in relation to a contract of insurance that lasts for more than 12 months, means—(i)the 12-month period beginning on the inception date;(ii)each subsequent 12-month period beginning on an inception anniversary date; or(iii)the period beginning on the last inception anniversary date and ending on the date on which the contract expires; or(b)in relation to a contract of insurance that lasts for 12 months or less, means the period beginning on the inception date and ending on the date on which the contract expires; premium (保費)—see section 3; specified general business (指明一般業務) means insurance business of the nature specified in—(a)class 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Ordinance; or(b)class 2 in Part 3 of that Schedule, regardless of whether the business is also of the nature specified in class I in Part 2 of that Schedule; specified long term business (指明長期業務)—(a)means insurance business of the nature specified in any of the classes in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Ordinance; but(b)excludes insurance business of the nature specified in both class I in Part 2, and class 2 in Part 3, of that Schedule.For the purposes of this Order, premium, in relation to a contract of insurance, is the amount of the premium receivable—
after deducting—
any discounts specified in the contract; and
any refunds of premiums made in respect of any avoidance or reduction of risks; and
before deducting—
any premiums for reinsurance ceded; and
any commission payable by the authorized insurer for the contract in relation to a Hong Kong insurance business or a Hong Kong long term insurance business. (L.N. 57 of 2024)
To avoid doubt, premium—
includes any premium paid otherwise than in cash; and
excludes any premium settled by way of a waiver of premium by an authorized insurer.
In this section—
direct business (直接業務) means the business of effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance, other than contracts of reinsurance; Hong Kong insurance business (香港保險業務) means—(a)any direct business or facultative reinsurance business, being general business, in relation to which the risk is underwritten in Hong Kong, that is to say—(i)the policy is issued in Hong Kong;(ii)the proposal form, application form or any other form of a similar nature is prepared or signed in Hong Kong;(iii)the proposal form, application form or any other form of a similar nature is submitted or received in Hong Kong;(iv)the proposal form, application form or any other form of a similar nature is accepted in Hong Kong; or(v)the risk is accepted in Hong Kong; or(b)any treaty reinsurance business, being general business, in relation to which the risk is underwritten in Hong Kong, that is to say—(i)the treaty is signed in Hong Kong;(ii)the treaty is accepted in Hong Kong; or(iii)the treaty negotiation is concluded in Hong Kong,other than treaty reinsurance business in respect of which less than 25% of the total risk (calculated in terms of the gross premiums receivable under the treaty) arises in Hong Kong; Hong Kong long term insurance business (香港長期保險業務) means—(a)any direct business or facultative reinsurance business, being long term business, in relation to which the risk is underwritten in Hong Kong, that is to say—(i)the policy is issued in Hong Kong;(ii)the proposal form, application form or any other form of a similar nature is signed in Hong Kong;(iii)the proposal form, application form or any other form of a similar nature is submitted or received in Hong Kong;(iv)the proposal form, application form or any other form of a similar nature is accepted in Hong Kong; or(v)the risk is accepted in Hong Kong; or(b)any treaty reinsurance business, being long term business, in relation to which the risk is underwritten in Hong Kong, that is to say—(i)the treaty is signed in Hong Kong;(ii)the treaty is accepted in Hong Kong; or(iii)the treaty negotiation is concluded in Hong Kong,other than treaty reinsurance business in respect of which less than 25% of the total risk (calculated in terms of the gross premiums receivable under the treaty) arises in Hong Kong. (L.N. 57 of 2024)For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of Hong Kong insurance business in subsection (3), a risk is regarded as arising in Hong Kong—
for insurance business of “accident and health” or “pecuniary loss”, if—
the policy holder, being an individual, is resident in Hong Kong; or
the policy holder is a company as defined by section 2(1) of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622);
for insurance business of “aircraft, damage and liability”, “ships, damage and liability” or “goods in transit”, if the risk is underwritten in Hong Kong as described in the definition of Hong Kong insurance business; or
for any other insurance business, if the risk is located in Hong Kong. (L.N. 57 of 2024)
For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of Hong Kong long term insurance business in subsection (3), a risk is regarded as arising in Hong Kong if—
the policy holder, being an individual, is resident in Hong Kong; or
the policy holder is a company as defined by section 2(1) of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622). (L.N. 57 of 2024)
For the purposes of section 134(1) of the Ordinance, a levy is payable for each premium payment made under a contract of insurance if—
the contract relates to—
specified general business; or
specified long term business;
the contract is not—
a contract of reinsurance; or
a contract of insurance underwritten by a captive insurer; and
the policy year for which the premium payment is made begins in a period set out in column 1 of the Schedule.
Subject to section 6, the amount of levy payable for each premium payment is the amount of the premium multiplied by the levy rate set out in column 2 of the Schedule opposite to the period set out in column 1 of the Schedule in which the policy year for which the premium payment is made begins.
If—
there is a premium payment schedule in a contract of insurance; and
the schedule stipulates that premiums are payable more than once a year,
then—
the maximum aggregate amount of levies payable for scheduled premium payments for a policy year is the relevant maximum amount; and
if there is one or more extra premium payments for the policy year, the maximum aggregate amount of levies payable for the scheduled premium payments and extra premium payments for the policy year is the relevant maximum amount.
If—
there is a premium payment schedule in a contract of insurance; and
the schedule stipulates that a premium is payable once a year,
then—
the maximum amount of levy payable for each scheduled premium payment is the relevant maximum amount; and
if there is one or more extra premium payments for a policy year, the maximum aggregate amount of levies payable for the scheduled premium payment and extra premium payments for the policy year is the relevant maximum amount.
If—
there is a premium payment schedule in a contract of insurance; and
the schedule stipulates that a premium is payable once in more than a year (insurance period),
then—
the maximum amount of levy payable for each scheduled premium payment is the relevant maximum amount multiplied by the specified ratio for the contract; and
if there is one or more extra premium payments for the insurance period, the maximum aggregate amount of levies payable for the scheduled premium payment and extra premium payments for the insurance period is the relevant maximum amount multiplied by the specified ratio for the contract.
If there is no premium payment schedule in a contract of insurance, the maximum amount of levy payable for each premium payment is the relevant maximum amount.
For the purposes of subsections (1), (2), (3) and (4), the relevant maximum amount is the amount set out in column 3 or 4 of the Schedule (as may be appropriate) specified opposite to the period set out in column 1 of the Schedule in which the policy year for which the relevant premium payment is made begins.
In this section—
extra premium payment (額外保費付款), in relation to a contract of insurance, means a premium payment that is not stipulated in the contract’s premium payment schedule; scheduled premium payment (議定保費付款), in relation to a contract of insurance, means a premium payment stipulated in the contract’s premium payment schedule; specified ratio (指明比率), for a contract of insurance, means the number of months between the dates on which 2 successive premium payments are required to be made in accordance with the premium payment schedule in the contract (rounded up to the next whole number if the number of months is not a whole number) divided by 12.If the amount of a levy payable would, but for this section, include a fraction of a cent, the amount is to be rounded to the nearest cent.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 |
| Period | Levy rate | Maximum levy for specified general business | Maximum levy for specified long term business |
| From 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2019 (both dates inclusive) | 0.04% | $2,000 | $40 |
| From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 (both dates inclusive) | 0.06% | $3,000 | $60 |
| From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 (both dates inclusive) | 0.085% | $4,250 | $85 |
| From 1 April 2021 onwards (inclusive of that date) | 0.1% | $5,000 | $100 |