Hong Kong journalists experience tax audits in latest pressure on independent media

Hong Kong authorities have launched tax audits targeting at least eight independent media outlets and about 20 journalists and their family members, RFA reported citing the Hong Kong Journalists Association. The audits, covering up to seven years, contain numerous errors such as taxing companies before their establishment and treating all bank deposits as taxable income.

The association warned this move threatens the already limited space for independent journalism in the city, calling on the Inland Revenue Department to stop audits without clear justification and to explain the rationale behind the crackdown.

The Inland Revenue Department stated it reviews taxpayer information regardless of industry but declined to comment on specific cases. Since the 2019 pro-democracy protests and subsequent Beijing-backed security laws in 2020 and 2024, Hong Kong’s media freedom has sharply declined. Several independent outlets have closed, and journalists have been arrested. Hong Kong’s press freedom ranking dropped from 18th in 2002 to 140th in 2025, reflecting increasing restrictions on the city’s once vibrant free press environment.