30 December 2013

The Income Tax (Singapore — Belarus) (Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement) Order 2013 [No. S 804/2013] was published in the Government Gazette, Electronic Edition, on 27 December 2013.

Following this, the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA) between Singapore and Belarus will come into force on 27 December 2013 and will be effective from 1 January 2014.

The DTA includes the internationally agreed Standard for the exchange of information for tax purposes. The withholding tax rates under the treaty are as follows:

• Dividends — Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in that other State. Since Singapore’s domestic withholding rate for dividends is nil, dividends will be exempt from withholding tax in Singapore.
• Interest — 5%. Exempt from tax if paid to a bank or relevant government authorities in the other Contracting State.
• Royalties — 5%.

The full text of the DTA is available on the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore website.

Source: Singapore Statues Online