IRAS streamlines liquidation process

24 March 2015

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has updated its website to clarify that that no tax clearance letter will be issued to companies under voluntary
 liquidation. Where the company is under a members’ voluntary liquidation, liquidators will generally rely on the following items to confirm that there is no outstanding tax matter and tax liability before proceeding with the completion of the liquidation process:

  • latest Notice(s) of Assessment from the company’s authorised personnel; and
  • latest Statement of Accounts

Where the company is under compulsory/ creditors’ voluntary liquidation, liquidators may request for a confirmation (commonly known as a tax clearance letter) from IRAS. Such companies can now rely on IRAS’ documents to confirm that there are no 
outstanding tax matters/ liabilities. Therefore there is no need to request for a tax clearance letter from IRAS. The update was made on 16 March 2015. For further details, please refer to the IRAS website. Source: IRAS

IRAS updates website content relating to “Companies under Liquidation and Judicial Management/Receivership”

12 May 2014

On 7 May 2014, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) updated its website content relating to “Companies under Liquidation and Judicial Management/Receivership” to clarify that the requirement to submit audited/unaudited accounts follows the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (ACRA) requirements.

Companies under liquidation

When a company commence liquidation, be it voluntary or compulsory, the liquidator is required to inform IRAS and submit the notices concerning the appointment of liquidators (Notice of Appointment and Situation of Office of Liquidator). He also has to submit all outstanding Income Tax Returns (Form C/ Form C-S) and audited/unaudited accounts of the company in liquidation up to the date of liquidation, file the subsequent Receipts and Payments for the liquidation period and ensure that the company’s outstanding tax matters are resolved before completion of the liquidation process.

However, under the Companies Act, dormant companies and exempt private companies with annual revenue of not more than S$5 million are not required to have their accounts audited. Exempt private companies are companies that have 20 or less shareholders and none of the shareholder is a corporation.

In addition, if a company files Form C-S, the audited/unaudited accounts and tax computation are not required to be submitted together with Form C-S. However, they are to be prepared and retained for submission upon IRAS’ request.

Companies under Judicial Management/Receivership

When a company is under judicial management/receivership, it is still required to submit the Income Tax Return (Form C/ Form C-S), audited/unaudited accounts and tax computation to IRAS yearly.

However, under the Companies Act, dormant companies and exempt private companies with annual revenue of not more than S$5 million are not required to have their accounts audited. Exempt private companies are companies that have 20 or less shareholders and none of the shareholder is a corporation.

In addition, if a company files Form C-S, the audited/unaudited accounts and tax computation are not required to be submitted together with Form C-S. However, they are to be prepared and retained for submission upon IRAS’ request.

For more information, please refer to the IRAS website.

Source: Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore