After graduating from the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong in 1988, Kevin Ng joined Deloitte and specialised in the field of taxation. Six years later, in 1994, he decided to accept an opportunity to relocate to Beijing, where tax and accounting practices were still under development.

The relocation was meant to be a one-year secondment, but Mr Ng’s position in Beijing was renewed year after year. Today, Mr Ng is the Tax Managing Partner of Northern China for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and has been practicing in the China taxation field in Beijing for 13 years.

He has seen the tax department grow from two employees to a group of professional of more than 170, and the Beijing office as a whole has grown from 20 plus to about 1,500 employees.

1994 marked a turning point in Mr Ng’s life. When he left Hong Kong, the economy was flourishing and the business environment was good. The contrast in Beijing was dramatic.

“Adapting to the new environment was challenging. But I was prepared psychologically and somehow I feel that working in Beijing suits me. I feel that I am part of China. I had to overcome the hurdles including differences in languages and mentality between Hong Kongers and mainlanders,” Mr Ng said.

When he tried establishing the tax department 13 years ago, the market was immature, and work was a steady process of “fire-fighting,” said Mr Ng.

“At that time the market started to pick up. There were not enough people, not to say enough training or experience. We would handle urgent matters for clients first. Then we would focus on building the infrastructure, recruiting new staff and implementing staff development programs,” he said.

In 1994, China underwent a tax reform and everyone had to start from scratch and learn the new policies together. After years of hard work, Mr Ng was promoted to Partner in the year 2000.

“Being a partner is very different from a senior manager. I get involved in corporate strategies and management work. Externally, I have to build up the reputation of the firm and deal with clients. Internally, I have to build up the team.”

“When I graduated, I couldn’t see what I would face as a professional. But in the past 20 years, I started on focusing on the technical aspects, client services, and team building. I then slowly got into business development and management. Looking back, I think it is a fun and rewarding process. Every few years, there are new things to stimulate myself and I can feel that there is always something new lying ahead,” he said.

Over the past 10 years, the Chinese government has gained an understanding of the accounting industry and started to recognise the roles accounting professionals play, Mr Ng Said. The accounting industry in Hong Kong in 1994 was quite mature but it was new to China at the time.

“I think the government has started to understand how the industry could help the business community and the economy so that we can better position ourselves in the society,” he said.

Nr Ng believes that the new unified corporate income tax system is a milestone in the development of the China tax system.

“The government has changed its focus from the quantity of foreign investment to the quality of foreign investment. For example, if you are in the high-technology industry, you will be entitled to tax preferential treatment,” he said.

China’s role in the development of the global market has changed, said Mr Ng. As a result, there are now internationally prevailing concepts in the country’s tax policies, such as control foreign corporations, effective management and control, and other anti-avoidance regime.

“This is how China could reasonably and legally protect its tax income in the global business environment,” he said, explaining that under the new tax system, foreign companies which are already operating in China might bear a higher tax rate, but this would trigger companies to review their existing operations, structure, and related parties transactions.

Source: ACCA Hong Kong