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How to identify H shares on HKEX?

Q&A › Category: Dividend Stocks › How to identify H shares on HKEX?
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Andrew Sim asked 2 years ago
Hi I tried to identify H shares companies listed on HKEX but it does not show any indication that a company is a H share and thus subject to withholding tax. Does anyone know how to identify them? Thanks
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Rusmin Ang Staff answered 2 years ago

Hi Andrew,

H share can also be subjected to 10% withholding tax if their country of domicile is in China. A company can also have both A shares and H shares listed in both China and Hong kong exchange. Ping An is an example and even though we own the H share, they are domicile in China, so it is subjected to 10% withholding tax. Likewise, TravelSky is domiciled in China, they are subjected to 10% withholding tax.

I realised their isn't a straightforward to identify them in the HKEX website. I found a quick solution for your question. You can simply search the company name/stock code in FT website under the search bar and then navigate to company profile to see their domicile country (location). Ping An example below.

https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=2318:HKG

Tat Wee Hsu replied 2 years ago

Hi Rusmin

I tried it for China Mobile.
https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=941:HKG
Seems to be domiciled in China.
But for HKEX…
https://www.hkex.com.hk/Market-Data/Securities-Prices/Equities/Equities-Quote?sym=941&sc_lang=en
Seems to be domiciled in HK. as both is principal office and place of incorporation are not in China. So is 941.HK subjected to 10% withholding tax?

Same confusions for CNOOC 883.HK.
https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=883:HKG
https://www.hkex.com.hk/Market-Data/Securities-Prices/Equities/Equities-Quote?sym=883&sc_lang=en

But both companies are listed in Forbes Global 2000 as Hong Kong companies rather than as China companies. This gives me the impression that the 10% withholding tax does not apply to them… i.e. both 941.hk and 883.hk.

Thanks for all comments.

Rusmin Ang Staff replied 2 years ago

Yes, it is quite confusing. To be honest, I can’t confirm the answer. If you own the shares, you can check your brokerage statement and see if they deduct 10% from the dividends. That’s the most straightforward way to see it.

Rusmin Ang Staff replied 2 years ago

Looking at our past dividends statements from HK shares, I notice that those with Place of Incorporation in HK/Cayman didn’t have any withholding tax. Those that are incorporated in China were subjected to 10% tax. So I think we should stick to Tat Wee’s source from HKEX instead of FT. Place of incorporation seems like the deciding factor whether investors will be subject to withholding tax. So both China Mobile and CNOOC shouldn’t be subjected to 10% withholding tax. Please confirm this if anyone of you own the shares in them 🙂

Tat Wee Hsu replied 2 years ago

Thanks Rusmin.

Shyanna Chng replied 2 years ago

I owned CNOOC before (in 2022) and there was a tax withhold for dividend then

Rusmin Ang Staff replied 2 years ago

Thanks Shyanna. It looks more complicated than I initially thought.