Do you need to pay MPF for yourself (proprietor) or employees? | Hong Kong MPF

As an online shop owner, do you need to make MPF contributions for yourself (boss/proprietor status) or employees? If you make MPF contributions for your full-time job, do you not have to pay MPF contributions for the online shop business? What arrangements should be made when the online store is no longer operating? Let Wilkinson explain them one by one for you today!

A) As a full-time online shop owner/owner

Many novice shopkeepers with small businesses will choose to "kick" all the work. According to the labor law, as long as you are not earning income as an employee, and the income comes from the production or trading of goods or services, you are in the MPF system. Self-employed persons, such as sole proprietors or partners of the business. Regardless of your income and whether you have obtained business registration, you also need to register yourself to participate in the MPF scheme in accordance with the "Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance" and make contributions for yourself.

2) Part-time online shop owner/owner

Many online shop owners have full-time jobs. So, do you have a full-time job and provide MPF, so you don't need to provide MPF for the business on the online shop? The answer is wrong! You need to participate in the MPF scheme for two capacities:

• As a self-employed person, you are required to join the MPF scheme and make mandatory contributions; and
• As an employee, your employer must arrange for you to join an MPF scheme and make mandatory contributions.

The two contributions must be calculated separately and cannot be combined.

3) Employees of the online shop business

If your online shop employs employees, in addition to joining the MPF scheme as a self-employed person, you must also fulfill your legal obligations as an employer, arrange for employees to join the MPF scheme and make mandatory contributions for them .

If employees work for you for 4 consecutive weeks and no less than 18 hours a week, you are responsible for ensuring that they are entitled to the rights and protections under Hong Kong’s existing labor laws, including minimum wage, MPF contributions, rest days, and Paid statutory holidays, paid annual leave, insured industrial and commercial compensation insurance, sickness allowance, maternity leave, paternity leave, severance payment or long service payment, etc. Even if your employees are only part-time (that is, less than the 4.18 requirement), the minimum wage, MPF contributions and labor insurance are still necessary.

4) The online shop is no longer in operation, do I need to continue to provide MPF?

There is no need to continue contributing, but you must notify the plan trustee of the arrangements in advance.

You can calculate the mandatory contributions to be paid on a pro-rata basis based on the number of days of self-employment during the contribution period, and notify the plan trustee to terminate your self-employment and pay the last instalment before the start of the next contribution period.