11 March 2013

The IRAS has issued a statement in response to articles published by both Lianhe Zaobao and TODAY on 27 February 2013 commenting that that many SMEs are not sufficiently informed or equipped with the right personnel or expertise to apply for the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.

In its statement issued on 4 March 2013 the IRAS assured that it has, since the introduction of the PIC scheme in 2010, been conducting outreach programmes to raise awareness and help businesses understand how they can tap on the PIC to raise their productivity. These steps include the providing of PIC advice to businesses in one-to-one and group settings and working with industry associations such as Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) to reach out to more businesses.

The IRAS also explained that it seeks regular feedback through various trade and business associations to determine how the PIC scheme can be enhanced, and has taken appropriate action where feasible, for instance, the PIC cash payout rate was increased in Budget 2012 from 30% to 60% of businesses’ PIC expenditures following feedback received.

The IRAS’s full replies and more information about the PIC scheme are available on the IRAS website.

Source: This article was extracted from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) website.