Hong Kong Legislative Council insurance-sector lawmaker Chen Peiliang said
rumors that mainland China will impose a 20% personal income tax on offshore
insurance policy returns are tied to implementation of the Common Reporting
Standard (CRS) and individual overseas income reporting arrangements; he said no
formal policy documents or implementation details have been issued. Chen noted
Chinese residents have long been required to declare and pay tax on overseas
investment income and that the requirement covers all overseas investment
returns rather than targeting insurance products. The topic flared after some
mainland China regions began implementing CRS-related measures. He cited Hong
Kong savings-style insurance yields of about 6–6.5% versus roughly 3% for
comparable mainland products, saying Hong Kong policies would remain close to a
two percentage-point net yield advantage even after tax and are therefore
unlikely to see a sharp drop in mainland buyers. He added Hong Kong products
remain competitive for multi-currency allocation and wealth transfer and that he
does not plan to raise the matter in LegCo.
