Monitoring the various tax filing, payment and registration deadlines is an essential component of tax risk management. To assist you in this process, some of the important tax deadlines are summarised below.
SINGAPORE INCOME TAX
1) Filing of Income Tax Return
a) The statutory filing deadlines for the various income tax returns are as follows:
| Taxpayers required to file tax returns | Form to complete | Due date for paper return | Due date for e-filing |
| Resident individuals | Form B/ Form B1 | 15 April | 18 April |
| Non-resident individuals | Form M | 15 April | |
| Partnerships | Form P | 15 April | 18 April |
| Clubs / Trade associations / Management corporations / Town councils | Form P1 | 15 April | |
| Trusts and estates | Form T | 15 April | |
| Companies | Form C/ Form C-S | 30 November | 15 December (for Form C-S only) |
With effect from Year of Assessment (YA) 2008, registered charities will enjoy automatic income tax exemption and do not need to file income tax returns.
b) Persons or individuals carrying on or exercising a trade, business, profession or vocation are required by section 63 of the Singapore Income Tax Act to file an estimate of their chargeable income in addition to filing their tax returns. The Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) must be filed no later than three months after the financial year-end. A “Nil” return is required even though the ECI is nil. With effect from YA 2013, as an administrative concession, companies with financial year ending October 2012 or after are not required to file ECI for a particular financial year if its annual revenue does not exceed S$1 million for the financial year, and its ECI (before deducting the exempt amount under the partial tax exemption scheme or the tax exemption scheme for new start-up companies) is nil.
2) Employers’ Obligations under the Singapore Income Tax Act
| Information to report | Form to complete | Due date |
| Remuneration paid to employees | Form IR8A and Appendix 8A, Appendix 8B or Form IR8S (where applicable) |
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Employers are required to notify the IRAS of the following:
| Form to complete | Due date | |
| (i) Cessation of employment in Singapore of non-citizen employees
(ii) Non-citizen employees posted overseas (iii) Non-citizen employees leave Singapore for a period exceeding three months (other than for training or business purposes) |
Form IR21 and Appendix 1/2/3 (if applicable) | The notice should be lodged at least one month before the employee ceases employment in Singapore (including overseas posting) or plans to leave Singapore for more than three months. |
3) Singapore Withholding Tax
Generally, the following payments made to non-residents of Singapore are subject to Singapore withholding tax:
| Form to complete | Due date for payment | |
| (i) Any interest, commission, fees, or any other payments in connection with any loan or indebtedness or with any arrangement, management, guarantee or service relation to any loan or indebtedness | Form IR37
(The Form can be consolidated and submitted twice a year on 15 June and 15 December of each year to IRAS based on the following criteria:
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With effect from 1 July 2012, the completed Form has to be submitted together with the payment by the 15th of the second month following the date of payment or deemed payment to the non-resident.
(Prior to 1 July 2012, the completed Form has to be submitted together with the payment by the 15th of the month following the date of payment or deemed payment to the non-resident.) |
| (ii) Royalty or other payments in one lump sum or otherwise for the use of or the right to use any movable property | As above | As above |
| (iii) Any payment for the use of or the right to use scientific, technical, industrial or commercial knowledge or information | As above | As above |
| (iv) Payment for the rendering of assistance or service in connection with the application or use of such knowledge or information as mentioned in point (iii) above. | As above | As above |
| (v) Payment for the management or assistance in management of any trade, business or profession | As above | As above |
| (vi) Rent or other payments under any agreement or arrangement for the use of any moveable property | As above | As above |
| (vii) Director’s remuneration | As above | As above |
| (viii) Consideration for real property to a non-resident seller who is a property trader | Form IR37A | As above |
| (ix) Payment of income from profession or vocation carried on by non-resident individuals or foreign firms in Singapore | Form IR37C
(When a payer makes multiple payments to the same payee for the same engagement, the payments can be consolidated and the tax remitted to IRAS based on the last date of payment, provided that the interval between the first and the last date of payment does not exceed 60 days. For payments made subsequent to the 60-day period from the first date of payment, withholding tax should be accounted for separately.) |
As above |
Please note that the above is only a summary and is not an exhaustive list of all payments made to non-residents that will be subject to withholding tax in Singapore. Please also note that, withholding tax must be accounted for at the earliest of the following dates:
(a) when the liability to pay the income arises in accordance with the terms of the agreement/contract. In the absence of an agreement/contract, the date of invoice is regarded as the deemed date of payment;
(b) when the income is credited to the account of the non-resident person (or reinvested, accumulated, capitalised or carried to any reserve or any other account however designated, or otherwise dealt with on his behalf); and
(c) when actual payment of the income is made.
If payments are made to countries which have double tax agreements with Singapore, the rate of tax to be withheld may be reduced or there may be an exemption from the requirement to withhold tax depending on the country of residence of the recipient and the submission of a Certificate of Residency (COR) duly certified by the tax authorities of the country of residence of the recipient. The certificate must be completed annually and the original copy is to be submitted to the Tax Comptroller by 31 March of the following year.
Notwithstanding the above, please note that certain categories of payments made to non-residents are exempted from Singapore withholding tax under the Singapore domestic law. In this regard, let us know if you require our assistance in advising you on the withholding tax obligation arising from making any form of payments to non-residents.
GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)
If you are not already GST registered, please take note that if you have made taxable supplies (i.e. supplies liable to standard-rated and zero-rated GST) of goods and services in excess of S$1 million in the last four quarters, or expect the value of taxable supplies to exceed S$1 million within the next 12 months, you are liable, under the GST Act to register for GST. If the value of the taxable supplies is less than S$1 million per annum, you can apply for voluntary GST registration if the recoverable input GST suffered by you is material enough to render it cost effective for GST registration. If you register for GST voluntarily, you must remain registered for at least two years.