Business Name and Nature on Business Registration Certificate
Business Registration Certificate (BRC) applies to every business in Hong Kong.Under Section 12 of the Business Registration Ordinance, a valid BRC shall be displayed at the address where business is carried on.
A company name is the name of a company and a business name is used to identify a business which is registered with the BR Office of IRD. Business name can help the customers to recognize the business more easily if the name is shorter or more special than the company name. A business name is not compulsory to be registered and itcan be different from the company name. A company may register more than one business name for the same business. Each additional business name registered will be handled as a branch of the company. If the company carries on more than one business, each business should be registered separately and may with its own business name.
Business nature shown on the BRC is a common description of the business. “CORP” stands for a corporation whose business has not yet commenced. Upon commencement of business, the company is required to declare the nature of business and the date of commencement to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) within one month. The description of the business nature can be brief but should not be too vague. The length of the nature (including punctuation, symbols and spaces) cannot exceed 30 characters for a Chinese business description and nature and 60 characters for an English business description and nature. If over 30 characters total, it can be divided equally into two lines with 30 characters each.
If there is any change in the BRC’s particulars or cessation of business, the business operator should notify the Commissioner of IRD in writing within one month of the change or cessation.
