Originally Posted by GlassesJacketShirt
Yea, I'm also wondering about the forgiveable loan. If you were to be taxed on it, would it be possible to not take the loan at all or just keep some money aside from the loan to pay for the tax when it comes
I don't think you have the option to not take the loan nor leave the money aside. That money never gets to your hands. From what I can interpret with the information given, the you sign the contract acknowledging the existence of such loan given to you by Cathay and the loan is used entirely to pay for the training involved in Adelaide. Even if you have 1.1 million HKD laying around in your bank account, Cathay will still require you to take a loan from them. The loan is a mere workaround to the bonding law made by the HK government. This way, Cathay can ensure they have a warm body for 6 years without fearing that the warm body will leave any minute. As for your "1.1m 6 years bonus", a smart CPP SO will calculate the required tax amount and spread it amongst the 72 months of salary. It's a safe bet to use 15% flat rate tax than the multi-tier tax rate for that year.