The MPF in Hong Kong and taking it home

The Mandatory Provident Fund is Hong Kong's answer to super. It's smaller than you're used to, but it's your money, and you can usually take it with you.

The short version

You and your employer each put in 5% of your relevant income, capped at HK$1,500 a month each once you earn more than HK$30,000 [1].
Expats who arrive for a job of 13 months or less, or who belong to an overseas retirement scheme, can be exempt [2].
When you leave Hong Kong for good, you can claim your MPF early on the "permanent departure" ground, once, with a statutory declaration [3].
Trustees generally pay within 30 days of getting all your documents [3].
In Australia, a foreign super lump sum is generally tax-free if it only covers time you weren't an Australian resident, or if you get it within six months of becoming resident again [6].

How contributions work

The MPF covers employees and self-employed people aged 18 to 64 [2]. Your employer enrols you, picks the scheme (a master trust run by a bank or insurer, in most cases) and pays both halves into it each month.

Monthly relevant income	You pay	Your employer pays
Under HK$7,100	Nothing	5%
HK$7,100 to HK$30,000	5%	5%
Over HK$30,000	HK$1,500 (capped)	HK$1,500 (capped)

Source: MPF Schemes Authority, 2026 [1].

"Relevant income" is broad. It includes salary, bonuses, commissions and most allowances [1]. Your own contributions start after a 30-day contribution holiday at the start of a new job, while your employer's start from day one [1]. Contributions are due by the 10th of each month.

Compare that with Australia, where super guarantee contributions come from your employer alone and there is no cap this low. On a HK$80,000 monthly salary, you and your employer put in HK$3,000 a month between you, about 3.75% of pay. Many expat employers add a voluntary top-up or run a separate ORSO scheme, so check your contract.

Tax breaks in Hong Kong

Your mandatory contributions are deductible from salaries tax up to HK$18,000 a year, which is exactly the yearly cap of HK$1,500 times 12 [4]. Tax deductible voluntary contributions (TVC) and qualifying annuity premiums can reduce your salaries tax by up to a further HK$60,000 a year combined [5]. TVC money is locked in until 65, like the mandatory part, so treat it as long-term savings. Our salaries tax guide covers the rest of your return.

Do you even have to join?

Two groups of people who enter Hong Kong for employment are exempt [2]:

Short stays. You are here on an employment visa for 13 months or less. After the first 13 months, the exemption ends and your employer has 60 days to enrol you.
Overseas scheme members. You belong to a retirement scheme of a place outside Hong Kong.

The second exemption matters to Australians on secondment. If your Australian employer keeps paying into your Australian super fund while you work in Hong Kong, HR may claim the exemption for you. That can be a good deal, because Australian super contributions are usually far larger than HK$1,500 a month. Ask HR in writing which applies, and check that your Australian fund is actually receiving money.

If you come on a dependant visa and take a job, you are covered by the MPF like anyone else [2].

Funds, fees and keeping track

Each MPF scheme offers a menu of funds: equity, bond, mixed, guaranteed and the Default Investment Strategy. If you never choose, your money goes into the Default Investment Strategy, which reduces risk as you approach 65.

Fees vary a lot between schemes and between funds within the same scheme. Each fund publishes a Fund Expense Ratio. Look it up before you choose, because a difference of one percentage point a year compounds over a career.

The eMPF Platform

All MPF admin now runs through the eMPF Platform, a government-funded central system operated by a subsidiary of the MPF Schemes Authority on a non-profit basis [7]. You register once, see your accounts across schemes, change investments and lodge claims there. The MPFA says the administrative savings are meant to flow through to members as lower fees [7].

Moving and consolidating your money

Since 2012, you can transfer the part that comes from your own mandatory contributions in your current job to a scheme of your choice, once a calendar year [8]. Each time you change jobs, your old balance can move into a personal account or your new employer's scheme. Consolidating saves fees and makes the final claim simpler.

Full portability, which also covers your employer's contributions, is being phased in. Phase One is set for 21 December 2026 for employees who started a new job on or after 1 May 2025, subject to the Legislative Council finishing its scrutiny. No date has been set for Phase Two [8].

Getting it out on permanent departure

You can normally withdraw MPF at 65, but there are early grounds. For Australians, the one that matters is permanent departure from Hong Kong [3].

What you need

Document	Notes
Identity document	Your HKID card or passport
Statutory declaration	That you have left or will leave Hong Kong to live elsewhere, with no intention of returning for work or to resettle as a permanent resident
Proof of right to live elsewhere	Satisfactory to your trustee. An Australian passport usually does it

Step by step

Consolidate first. Move old accounts into one if you can, so you make one claim instead of three.
Make the declaration. In Hong Kong, do it before a Commissioner for Oaths at a Home Affairs Department office, a notary public or a Justice of the Peace, with your HKID card [3].
Or do it from Australia. Outside Hong Kong, a notary public or another person authorised to take statutory declarations can witness it [3]. In Australia, that means a notary, or check with your trustee whether an Australian authorised witness is accepted.
Lodge through eMPF. Submit the claim and documents through the eMPF Platform, not to the MPFA or the trustee directly [3].
Wait about a month. Trustees generally pay within 30 days after they have everything [3]. Units are sold at the price on the day, so the amount can move with the market.

The once-only catch

If you've withdrawn on the permanent departure ground before, a later claim on the same ground won't be paid [3]. So if there's any chance you'll come back to Hong Kong, think about leaving the money invested. It doesn't expire, though it stays exposed to fees and markets until 65.

If your balance is HK$5,000 or less in a single scheme, the "small balance" ground can be simpler, but you need 12 months without contributions and a declaration that you won't work again [3].

How Australia taxes the money

This is where timing matters. The ATO treats lump sums from foreign super funds under specific rules [6]. MPF schemes are generally treated as foreign super funds, but confirm your case with the ATO or a tax adviser.

When you receive it	Australian tax (broadly)
While you're a non-resident of Australia	Outside Australian tax on foreign-sourced income
Within 6 months of becoming an Australian resident again	Tax-free if it relates only to your non-resident period and doesn't exceed what was vested in you [6]
More than 6 months after becoming resident	Earnings since you became resident ("applicable fund earnings") are taxable; the rest is tax-free [6]

Two things follow.

Claim early if you can. Making your declaration and lodging the claim around the time you leave usually keeps you inside the tax-free window. Waiting years means you'll be taxed on growth since you came home.

If you stayed an Australian tax resident in Hong Kong, the analysis is different, because the earnings may have accrued while you were resident. Get advice before you lodge.

What about rolling it into your Australian super? The ATO allows foreign super to be transferred to a complying Australian fund, and the non-assessable amount counts towards your non-concessional contributions cap [9]. Because permanent departure claims are generally paid to you, check with both your MPF trustee and your Australian fund before you assume a direct transfer is possible. Our guide to super while you live overseas has the Australian side.

Planning your exit? Join Cooee Hong Kong, our Facebook group for Australians in Hong Kong, and ask who has recently claimed their MPF from Australia.

The MPF: Hong Kong's super and getting it out when you leave