Singapore - Individual - Tax Administration

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• Overview
• Corporate
  • Significant developments
  • Taxes on corporate income
  • Corporate residence
  • Other taxes
  • Branch income
  • Income determination
  • Deductions
  • Group taxation
  • Tax credits and incentives
  • Withholding taxes
  • Tax administration
  • Other issues
• Individual
  • Significant developments
  • Taxes on personal income
  • Residence
  • Other taxes
  • Income determination
  • Deductions
  • Foreign tax relief and tax treaties
  • Other tax credits and incentives
  • Tax administration
  • Sample personal income tax calculation
  • Other issues

Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas, The Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Bermuda Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon, Republic of Canada Cayman Islands Chad Chile China, People's Republic of Colombia Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Finland France Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Guatemala Guernsey, Channel Islands Guyana Honduras Hong Kong SAR Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) Jamaica Japan Jersey, Channel Islands Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, Republic of Kosovo Kuwait Lao PDR Latvia Lebanon Liberia, Republic of Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR Madagascar Malaysia Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia, Republic of Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palestinian territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Rwanda Saint Lucia Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Singapore Slovak Republic Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan, Republic of Venezuela Vietnam Zambia Singapore

Taxable period

The tax year in Singapore is the calendar year. An individual’s income from a preceding calendar year is assessed to tax in the following calendar year (i.e. year of assessment).

Tax returns

Each taxpayer is required to make an annual return of income and of such particulars as may be required to determine the personal reliefs and deductions. The tax return must be filed on a calendar-year basis and must be submitted by 18 April.

Payment of tax

The tax assessed is payable within one month of the date of the assessment whether or not a notice of objection to the assessment has been lodged with the tax authorities. The notice of objection must be lodged within 30 days of the date of the notice of assessment, failing which the assessment will be treated as final.

In the case of an employee, the tax authorities will, upon application, generally allow the payment of tax by monthly instalments with no interest, using the Interbank GIRO system (an interbank fund transfer system).

Clearance for foreigners

Singapore does not have payroll withholding. When a foreign citizen employee ceases employment in Singapore or leaves Singapore for a period exceeding three months or on an overseas posting, the employer needs to notify the Singapore tax authorities and withhold all monies due (unless the Singapore taxes are fully borne by the employer) until tax clearance is issued. The notification must be made no later than one month prior to the date of cessation/departure. Foreigners are also subject to tax on unexercised/unvested stock options/awards on a deemed gain basis when they cease employment or leave Singapore.

As a concession, tax clearance need not be obtained in the following scenarios:

• The employee is a Singapore permanent resident who is not leaving Singapore permanently. The employer should obtain a Letter of Undertaking from the employee stating that the employee has no intention to leave Singapore permanently after cessation of employment with the company. This administrative concession does not apply to overseas postings.
• The employee is a non-Singapore citizen who:
  • worked for 60 days or less in a calendar year (this excludes company directors, public entertainers, and individuals exercising a profession, vocation, or employment of a similar nature)
  • worked for 183 days or more within a calendar year and earned less than SGD 21,000 annually
  • entered Singapore on or after 1 January 2007 and worked for 183 days or more within a continuous period straddling two years and earned less than SGD 21,000 annually (this excludes company directors, public entertainers, and individuals exercising a profession, vocation, or employment of a similar nature)
  • worked for three continuous years or more and earned less than SGD 21,000 annually
  • transferred to another company in Singapore due to a company merger, a takeover, or restructuring or posting within the same group of companies, or
  • is away from Singapore for three to six months for training, business purposes, or overseas posting incidental to one's Singapore employment (subject to conditions).

Tax audit process

The tax authority is the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). It adopts a risk-based approach to identifying compliance risk, with a focus on improving the behaviour of taxpayers who pose a higher risk of non-compliance. The Singapore tax authorities also prioritise and tailor specific compliance programmes that aim to identify taxpayers who have made mistakes in their tax returns, create an audit presence in the community to deter non-compliance by other taxpayers, educate taxpayers on their tax obligations and how to comply with these, and identifying areas of tax law, policies, and processes where the tax system can be simplified.

Statute of limitations

The statute of limitations is four years from the year of assessment. It does not apply where there has been fraud or wilful default by the taxpayer.

Topics of focus for tax authorities

The tax authorities adopt a two-prong approach towards tax compliance by individuals with both risk-based audit and upstream assurance programmes. It leverages on artificial intelligence and data analytics to profile individuals and industries/businesses for a more targeted intervention. The tax authorities are focused on self-employed taxpayers, who can include doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, consultants, commission agents, private tutors, renovation contractors, social media influencers, online sellers, content creators, and brick and mortar traditional businesses pivoting their businesses to social media platforms, etc.

Areas of focus include:

• Timely filing of income tax returns.
• Under reporting or omission of employees’ income in employers’ filings of their employees’ income information.
• Under reporting of revenue and wrongful claims of purchases/expenses by cash-based industries.
• Arrangements that constitute tax avoidance.
• Reconciliation of income declaration with assets purchased.

• Individual - Other tax credits and incentives
• Individual - Sample personal income tax calculation

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Singapore contacts

Lennon Lee

Tax Leader, PwC Singapore

+65 8182 5220

Email Tay Lek Tan

Tax Partner, PwC Singapore

+65 9179 2725

Email Paul Lau

Tax Partner, PwC Singapore

+65 8869 8718

Email Lennon Lee

Tax Leader, PwC Singapore

+65 8182 5220

Email Tay Lek Tan

Tax Partner, PwC Singapore

+65 9179 2725

Email Paul Lau

Tax Partner, PwC Singapore

+65 8869 8718

Email Suk Peng Ding

Tax Partner, PwC Singapore

+65 9729 4016

Email View more contacts

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