Income Tax Act (ITA)

1. Concessionary rate of tax for leasing of aircraft and aircraft engines – An approved aircraft leasing company can enjoy a concessionary rate of tax of 5% or 10% on qualifying income from prescribed activities, and specified dividends derived from outside Singapore. See ITA section 43Y; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Aircraft Leasing Company) (Prescribed Activities) Regulations 2008; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax on Dividends — Aircraft Leasing Company) Order 2008. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

2. Concessionary rate of tax for leasing of aircraft investment manager – A concessionary tax rate of 10% applies to the income derived on or after 1 March 2007 from managing an approved aircraft leasing company, or prescribed services or activities carried out for an approved aircraft leasing company by approved aircraft investment managers.  The incentive is available from 1 March 2007 to 31 March 2017. See ITA section 43Z; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Aircraft Investment Manager) (Prescribed Activities) Regulations 2008. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

3. Exemption and concessionary rate of tax for insurance and reinsurance business – Prescribed income of approved offshore insurers may be exempt from tax or taxed at a concessionary rate of 5% or 10%. See ITA section 43C; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Offshore Life Insurance Business) Regulations; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Offshore General Insurance Business) Regulations; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Offshore Composite Insurance Business) Regulations. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

4. Concessionary rate of tax for approved insurance brokers – Commission and fee income derived by an approved insurance broker from the provision of insurance broking and advisory services to any specified person is subject to tax at the rate of 10%, for a period not exceeding 10 years. The incentive is available from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2013. See ITA section 43ZC; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Approved Insurance Brokers) Regulations 2009. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

5. Concessionary rate of tax for Finance and Treasury Centre – Multinationals that locate their finance and treasury operations in Singapore and accrue their income in Singapore from the provision of treasury, investment or financial services to related companies may be taxed at a concessionary rate of 10% on income from qualifying activities, as well as income from prescribed qualifying services provided to its related companies in and outside Singapore. This tax incentive is granted for a period of up to 10 years and is subject to review at the end of the incentive period. This incentive is administered by the EDB. See ITA section 43G; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Approved Finance and Treasury Centre) Regulations. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

6. Concessionary rate of tax for trustee company – A concessionary tax rate of 10% applies to the income of approved trustee companies derived from providing specified trust services to non-residents in respect of their non-Singapore dollar investments. See ITA section 43J; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Approved Trustee Companies) Regulations. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

7. Concessionary rate of tax for financial sector incentive company – Qualifying income of approved financial sector incentive (FSI) companies is subject to tax at a concessionary rate of 5%, 10% or 12%. A company is approved as a FSI company if it is approved by the Minister for Finance or approving authority as any of the following:

(a) a FSI (bond market) company;

(b) a FSI (credit facilities syndication) company;

(c) a FSI (derivatives market) company;

(d) a FSI (equity market) company;

(e) a FSI (fund management) company;

(f) a FSI (headquarter services) company;

(g) a FSI (standard tier) company;

(h) a FSI (project finance) company;

(i) a FSI (debt capital market) company;

(j) a FSI (Islamic finance) company;

(k) a FSI (derivatives market) (exchange-traded commodity derivatives) company;

(l) a FSI (derivatives market) (financial) company;

(m) a FSI (derivatives market) (financial, over-the-counter and exchange-traded commodity derivatives) company;

(n) a FSI (derivatives market) (over-the-counter commodity derivatives) company;

(o) a FSI (derivatives market) (over-the-counter and exchange-traded commodity derivatives) company; or

(p) a FSI (headquarter services) company.

This incentive is administered by the MAS. See ITA section 43Q; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Financial Sector Incentive Companies) Regulations 2005. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

8. Concessionary rate of tax for income derived from managing qualifying registered business trust or company – Income derived by an approved trustee-manager or an approved fund management company from carrying out qualifying activities is subject to tax at the concessionary rate of 10%. See ITA section 43ZD; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Income Derived from Managing Qualifying Registered Business Trust or Company) Regulations 2009. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

9. Exemption of international shipping profits – Under the Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AISE) scheme, approved Singapore-resident companies owning or operating Singapore ships or foreign ships are exempt from tax on specified income from qualifying activities. The AISE status is granted for either a 10-year renewable period, or a 5-year non-renewable period, with the option of graduating to the 10-year renewable award at the end of the 5-year period. As announced in Budget 2013, the maximum tenure of the MSI-AIS award will be increased from 30 years to 40 years, subject to conditions. This incentive is administered by the MPA. See ITA section 13F. The ITA is available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

10. Exemption of income of shipping investment enterprise – An approved shipping investment enterprise (ASIE), which could be a company incorporated and resident in Singapore or a registered business trust, can enjoy tax exemption on specified income from qualifying activities. The qualifying period for ASIE status granted from 1 March 2011 to 31 March 2016 is up to 5 years (for 1 March 2006 to 28 February 2011, the status is granted for a period not exceeding 10 years). This incentive is administered by the MPA. See ITA section 13S; Income Tax (Exemption of Foreign Income of Approved Shipping Investment Enterprise) Order 2010. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

11. Concessionary rate of tax for shipping investment manager – A concessionary tax rate of 10% applies on specified income derived by an approved shipping investment manager on or after 1 March 2006. This incentive is available between 1 March 2006 and 31 March 2016. This incentive is administered by the MPA. See ITA section 43W; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Shipping Investment Manager) Regulations 2010. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

12. Concessionary rate of tax for container investment enterprise – A concessionary tax rate of 5% or 10% applies on specified income derived by an approved container investment enterprise. Where the approval is granted between 1 March 2011 and 31 May 2016, the qualifying period is up to 5 years (for approval between 1 April 2008 and 28 February 2011, the qualifying period is up to 10 years). This incentive is administered by the MPA. See ITA section 43ZA; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Foreign Income of Approved Container Investment Enterprise) Order 2010. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

13. Concessionary rate of tax for container investment manager – A concessionary tax rate of 10% applies on specified income derived on or after 1 April 2008 by an approved container investment manager from managing an approved container investment enterprise. The qualifying period for the status granted from 1 March 2011 to 31 May 2016 is up to 5 years. This incentive is administered by the MPA. See ITA section 43ZB; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Container Investment Manager) Regulations 2010. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

14. Concessionary rate of tax for shipping-related support services – A concessionary tax rate of 10% applies on the incremental income of an approved company derived from providing in or from Singapore shipping-related support services approved for the company by the Minister for Finance. This incentive is available between 1 June 2011 and 31 May 2016. This incentive is administered by the MPA. See ITA section 43ZF; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Shipping-related Support Services) Regulations 2012. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

15. Exemption of income of venture company – Prescribed income of approved venture companies derived from approved investments may be exempt from tax or subject to tax at a concessionary rate of 10% or less. The tax incentive may be granted for an initial period of up to 10 years and may be extended for a further period or periods not exceeding five years at a time. The total relief period is not permitted to exceed 15 years. This incentive is administered by the EDB. See ITA section 13H; Income Tax (Exemption of Income of Approved Venture Company) Regulations. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

16. Exemption of income of not-for-profit organisation – Approved not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) are eligible for tax exemption during the period from 15 February 2007 to 14 February 2017. The
approval will be for a period not exceeding 10 years and may be extended on expiry for a further period not exceeding 10 years at any one time. See ITA section 13U. The ITA is available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

17. Exemption of income derived by law practice from international arbitration held in Singapore – Approved law practices will be granted a 50% tax exemption for 5 years on qualifying incremental income from the provision of any professional work of a legal nature for a client who is a party to an international arbitration held in Singapore. See ITA section 13V. The ITA is available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

18. Further deduction for expenditure on research and development project – A further deduction of the amount of expenditure on approved research and development (R&D) projects will be allowed to qualifying persons, subject to conditions. The total amount of deduction allowed under ITA sections 14, 14D, 14DA and 14E in respect of expenditure incurred for an approved R&D project will be up to a maximum of 200% of the expenditure incurred. This incentive is administered by the EDB. See ITA section 14E. The ITA is available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

19. Cash payout under Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme – Under the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) Scheme, qualifying businesses can apply to convert up to $100,000 of their total expenditure in six qualifying activities into a non-taxable cash payout. For year of assessment (YA) 2013 to 2015, the maximum cash payout is $60,000 per YA (for YA 2011 and 2012, the maximum combined cash payout is $60,000). This incentive is administered by the IRAS. See ITA section 37I; e-Tax guide on Productivity and Innovation Credit (Third Edition). The ITA is available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website, while the e-Tax guide is available on the IRAS website.

20. Concessionary rate of tax for headquarters company – A concessionary rate of 10% or such other concessionary rate will apply to specified income derived by an approved headquarters company from qualifying activities. The tax incentive is granted for a period of up to 10 years and is subject to review at the end of the incentive period. This incentive is administered by the EDB. See ITA section 43E; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Approved Headquarters Company) Regulations. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

21. Concessionary rate of tax for offshore leasing of machinery and plant – Income from offshore leasing of any  machinery or plant or such other activity as may be prescribed by regulations is taxed at a concessionary rate of 10%. See ITA section 43I. The ITA is available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.

22. Concessionary rate of tax for global trading company and qualifying companies – Approved global trading companies or their wholly-owned subsidiaries engaging in prescribed qualifying structured commodity financing activities can qualify for 5% or 10% concessionary tax treatment on qualifying profits for an initial period of 5 years, with a possible extension of another 5 years. This incentive is administered by IE Singapore. See ITA section 43P; Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Approved Global Trading Companies) Regulations 2003;  Income Tax (Concessionary Rate of Tax for Approved Qualifying Companies) Regulations 2013. The ITA and Subsidiary Legislation are available on the Singapore Government Statutes Online website.