Singapore has a territorial tax system whereby companies and individuals are taxed only on Singapore-sourced income and foreign income remitted into Singapore.
There is no capital gains or inheritance tax in Singapore and there are various tax rebates/reliefs for companies who meet IRAS’s qualifying criteria. Furthermore, Singapore currently has 80 comprehensive DTAs (Double Taxation Agreements).
Through the provisions of a DTA between Singapore and another jurisdiction, taxpayers engaged in cross-border businesses can benefit from the elimination of double taxation and may also enjoy reduction or exemption of tax on certain types of income. Your Singapore Company must be a Singapore tax resident to enjoy the full benefits of a DTA.
You may also be interested to note that some of the DTAs signed by Singapore have already been amended by the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
The prevailing Singapore corporate tax rate is 17% on net taxable income. The Singapore tax year is 1 January to 31 December. For example: If your Company’s Financial Year End (FYE) is 31 March 2019 or 30 June 2019 or 31 December 2019, then your tax year of assessment is 2020 (YA2020) . From YA 2020 onwards, the tax exemption for newly set up qualifying Singapore companies, in the first 3 years (from date of incorporation) is as follows:
Tax Exemption for new start-up Singapore companies:
(where any of the first 3 YAs falls in or after YA 2020)
Chargeable income | Tax exemption (%) | Taxable income |
---|---|---|
First $100,000 | 75 | $25,000 |
Next $100,000 | 50 | $50,000 |
Note: this exemption does not to the following new companies:
Partial Tax exemption for Singapore Incorporated Companies:
Chargeable income | Tax exemption (%) | Taxable income |
---|---|---|
First $10,000 | 75 | $2,500 |
Next $190,000 | 50 | $95,000 |
There are 2 forms that you are required to file after every financial year:
*You will not be required to submit your ECI if your company’s ECI is nil and annual revenue is less than S$1 million.
You will be required to file your ECI within 3 months of your company’s financial year. For Form C-S/C, you either file it manually or do an E-filing.
Assuming your company’s financial year falls on 31 December every year, these are the datelines:
Forms to be filed | Datelines |
---|---|
ECI (E-filing) | 31st March |
Form C-S/C (manual filing) | 30th November |
Form C-S/C (E-filing) | 15th December |
Before completing you form C-S/C, you should prepare your yearly tax computation.
Together with form C, you will be required to submit your audited/unaudited accounts, tax computation, and supporting schedules.
Together with form C-S, you will not be required to submit any additional documents. However, you are still required to prepare your tax computation, financial accounts and supporting schedules and submit to IRAS upon request.
Should you have any problems in preparing the relevant forms and documents, please contact us and our tax compliance specialist will be happy to assist you.
At Easy2Incorporate, we provide annual tax return services which includes but not limited to the following accounting functions:
We focus on providing tax services to small business owners and their foreign directors who are Singapore Employment Pass holders. Get expert help with your tax filing compliance to avoid unnecessary penalties and fines from IRAS. Please contact us for more details.
All Singapore tax residences are required to file and pay tax regardless of citizenship. If you are a foreigner working in Singapore and is a tax resident, you will also be required to file and pay tax. Singapore income tax is based on a progressive tax rate, starting for 0% to the maximum of 22%.
You will not need to file your income tax if:
Note: you will still need to file your income tax after being notified for the NSF if you have additional incomes.
To check the income tax rates, please refer to IRAS.
You will be considered a tax resident (excluding directors of a company, public entertainers or professionals) if you:
If you are issued with a work pass that is valid for at least one year, you will also be treated as a tax resident upfront.
Foreigners that worked for less than 183 days will be considered as non-tax resident.
If you are a foreigner on Employment Pass i.e. a salaried employee in Singapore, you are treated as a tax resident upfront. Otherwise, if you a foreigner who has income generated from Singapore, you are considered as a tax resident of Singapore if you:
You can e-file your completed tax form from 1 March to 18 April for income received in the preceding tax year (January to December).
Please contact our experienced tax preparers for the preparation of your income tax returns and the checking of applicable tax reliefs and special tax schemes such as NOR (Not Ordinary Resident) and ARA (Area Representative Scheme).
You can either file your income tax manually or through IRAS website. The dateline to file your income tax manually is on the 15 April while the dateline for E-filing is 18 April.
If you would like to engage us to help you file your personal income tax, please contact us for a quote.