19 June 2013

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) is conducting a public consultation exercise to gather views from members of the public on how parent relief should be allowed.

Currently, only one taxpayer can claim parent relief on his/her elderly parent. The relief amount is fixed for each elderly parent being supported. Should there be several family members supporting the elderly parent, the onus is on the family members to decide who should claim the parent relief.

IRAS would like to invite the public to share their views on how the parent relief should be allowed in the following scenarios:

• Where taxpayers are unable to agree among themselves who should claim the parent relief
• Where taxpayers are unable to agree on how the relief may be apportioned among themselves
• Where the elderly parent has indicated the parent relief be given to a particular taxpayer when family members are unable to agree on how the relief may be apportioned

The consultation paper detailing the current claim guidelines and the above proposals can be found on the IRAS website and the Government’s consultation portal, REACH.

The exercise will run from 13 June to 26 July 2013.

For more details, please refer to the IRAS’s website.

Source: IRAS