Come to think of it, Singapore’s tax policy is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it has turned the city-state into a tax haven for individuals, as well as foreign and domestic companies. Then, on the other, it happens to be extremely strict about the tax filing and payment procedures. You either get everything done before the tax filing deadline, or you’ll end up attracting pretty heavy penalties.
Now, to help you avoid such an unfortunate outcome, this guide covers all the essentials in Singapore’s tax filing process. Read along to learn more about the tax filing deadlines you should look out for, as well as the steps you should follow to file your personal and corporate income taxes in time.
Annual Tax Filing in Singapore
According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), both individuals and corporations are required to file their taxes on a yearly basis. The technical term for that is “annual tax filing”.
Individuals, for instance, are expected to establish their taxable income by deducting all the applicable tax reliefs from their total annual income. You should then calculate your personal income tax by multiplying the taxable income with the applicable tax rates.
As for companies, Singapore happens to run a single-tier corporate tax system that charges each company standard rates on its annual income. In the end, you’ll be expected to file the following:
- Corporate Income Tax: Tax filing for corporate income tax in Singapore is done through Form C or Form C-S, and it has a standard yearly deadline for all entities.
- Goods and Services Tax: The tax filing deadline for GST varies across different entities, as it depends on each company’s accounting year-end.
- Estimated Chargeable Income: Just like GST, the tax filing deadline for ECI is based on each company’s financial year.
Important Dates to Remember
When it comes to personal income tax filing, individuals are required to:
- Submit their paper mail filings by the 15th of April each year, or alternatively,
- File their taxes via IRAS’s e-filing system by the 18th of April each year.
Then for companies:
- Corporate Income Tax should be filed by the 30th of November if you choose to proceed with paper filing - or alternatively - the 15th of December for e-filers.
- Goods and Services Tax should be filed by GST-registered businesses according to their respective accounting periods. The tax filing deadline for companies whose accounting period falls between Jan and March is 30th April, while companies with April-June accounting periods should file by the 31st of July, July-September accounting periods should file by the 31st of October, and October-December accounting periods should file by the 31st of January.
- Estimated Chargeable Income should be filed within three months from the company’s financial year-end.
How to File Your Taxes: A Step-by-Step Guide
- First, you need to get yourself a SingPass by applying online through the official SingPass Portal. It only takes up to four working days to process such an application. If you’re not eligible, however, you could alternatively register an IRAS Unique Account.
- Once you receive your SingaPass or IRAS Unique Account credentials, use them to log in to myTax Portal. At this point, you should have prepared documents such as your business registration number, rental income details, your dependants’ particulars, and Form IR8A.
- The system will then give you an electronic tax form, on which you should enter and verify all your income details and tax relief claims.
- This whole process should take you about 5-10 minutes. Then when you’re done, the system will confirm your submission by displaying a tax filing acknowledgment receipt. You can then go ahead and save a copy of the page for record purposes.
Over to You
While we’ve tried to cover the basics, the truth of the matter is, tax filing is an intricately complicated process in Singapore. As such, you might want to work very closely with seasoned experts who understand not only the tax filing procedures, but also the accompanying Singapore tax laws.
Feel free to get in touch with us today for more information or click here to see our tax filing services.
If you're looking for more resources, you can check our guides on Personal Income Tax and Corporate Income Tax to learn more.