What is IRAS No-Filing Service

If you have received a letter from IRAS informing you that you are selected to benefit from the No-Filing Service, you do NOT need to submit an Income Tax Return.

IRAS, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, will issue you a tax bill (Notice of Assessment) based on your relief claims for last year, and the income details sent by your employer who participates in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) for Employment Income. However, reliefs may be adjusted if you have been informed that you do not meet the eligibility criteria.

IRAS is to Singapore as BIR is to Philippines, get it.

You need to submit an Income Tax Return only if you:

1. have additional income to declare. For e.g. you changed employer in year 2010 and your new employer is not in the AIS and/or received rental or other taxable income in year 2010; or
2. have additional reliefs to claim. For e.g. you have a new child born in the year 2010; or
3. need to remove pre-filled reliefs for which you are no longer eligible. For e.g. your child started working and had income exceeding $4,000 in the year 2010.

Are you on NFS?

Please log into myTax Portal to check whether you are on No-Filing Service. Find out more from the User Guide  (226KB).

SDPC Cigarette Marking: Legal duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore

Since 1 January 2009, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore are legally required to be marked with the letters “SDPC”.

All cigarettes will be sold in packets bearing the graphic health warning labels as stipulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

The SDPC will be marked on every individual stick of cigarettes.

How Does a SDPC-marked Cigarette Look Like?

What Does the Regulation Mean?

All cigarettes without the SDPC-marking in Singapore will be deemed illegal. Therefore, anyone caught selling, buying, or having in possession cigarettes without the SDPC marking will be committing an offence under the Customs and GST Acts.

Why is there a Need for this Regulation?

The new marking regulation seeks to achieve the following objectives:

• To reinforce Singapore Customs’ intensified operations to keep contraband cigarettes off the streets,
• As a measure to visibly differentiate duty-paid cigarettes from contraband cigarettes to enhance detection by our enforcement officers, and
• As deterrence to curb the peddling and buying of contraband cigarettes in Singapore

What are the Penalties?

Anyone caught selling, buying, or having in possession of duty unpaid cigarettes without the SDPC marking will be committing an offence under the Customs and GST Acts.  For every packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes, buyers will be fined $500. Illegal peddlers will be arrested and charged in Court.Offenders will be fined or sent to jail or both.

Frequently-asked Questions

• What about smokers returning to Singapore from overseas?  How will their packet of cigarettes be treated at the checkpoint?
  
  There are no duty-free concessions or GST relief for cigarettes and other tobacco products in Singapore since 1991. Persons arriving in Singapore who bring in cigarettes or tobacco products, including SDPC-marked cigarettes and tobacco products, are required to declare them at the Red Channel for payment of duty and GST.
  
  Arriving travellers and returning Singaporeans who have brought in cigarettes from overseas for their own consumption and have paid duty are advised to reproduce their receipts issued by Singapore Customs as proof of payment of duty and GST when checked by Customs officers

   

• What are the penalties?
  
  All duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore without the SDPC marking will be deemed as duty-unpaid.  Anyone caught selling, buying, or having in possession of duty unpaid cigarettes without the SDPC marking will be committing an offence under the Customs and GST Acts.  Illegal peddlers will be arrested and charged in court.  For every packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes, buyers will be fined $500.

• Will there be counterfeit cigarettes with the SDPC markings?
  
  We assessed that this is unlikely.  Nevertheless, we will be monitoring the situation closely and will review our tactics accordingly should the situation change.

• Why is there a need for the SDPC marking regulation?
  
  The SPDC marking on every stick of duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore is a measure to visibly differentiate duty-paid cigarettes from contraband cigarettes. This will enhance detection by our enforcement officers, and act as deterrence to curb the peddling and buying of contraband cigarettes in Singapore.  The new requirement will reinforce Singapore Customs’ intensified operations to keep contraband cigarettes off the streets.

• When will the regulation on “SPDC” markings take effect?
  
  All individual sticks of cigarettes that are meant for sale or consumption in Singapore will have to bear the SDPC marking.

What does an expatriate in Singapore need to know about paying taxes and how much?

Expatriates need to pay taxes, and the amount of tax depends on how much you have earned and on your tax residency in Singapore.

A  resident expatriate will be taxed on all income earned in Singapore and any overseas income that was brought into Singapore prior to 01 Jan 2004. The income, after deduction of tax reliefs, will be taxed at progressive resident rates. The foreign-sourced income (with the exception of those received through partnerships in Singapore) brought into Singapore on or after 01 Jan 2004 is tax exempt.

Tax implications at a glance

If your period of stay (including work) in Singapore	Resident status	Tax implications
Is 60 days or less	Non-resident	Your short term employment income is exempt from tax.
Is 61 to 182 days in a year	Non-resident	Your income earned in Singapore will be taxed at 15% or progressive resident rates, whichever is higher. Director’s fees and other income earned in or derived from Singapore are taxed at the prevailing rate of 20%
Is at least 183 days in a year	Resident for that year	All your income will be taxed at progressive resident rates.  You may claim tax reliefs.
Is at least 183 days for a continuous period over two years	Resident for both years	As above
Covers three consecutive years	Resident for both years	As above

 

Singapore’s taxation rate is one of the most competitive in the world. After deducting personal reliefs, personal income taxes are levied on a graduated scale which starts at 0% and is capped at a favorable 20%. There is no tax on income derived and received outside of Singapore, and no capital gains or estate taxes to worry about.

	Chargeable Income (SGD$)	Rate (%)	Gross Tax Payable (SGD$)
On the first On the next	$20,000 $10,000	0 3.50	$0 $350
On the first On the next	$30,000 $10,000	- 5.50	$350 $550
On the first On the next	$40,000 $40,000	- 8.50	$900 $3,400
On the first On the next	$80,000 $80,000	- 14	$4,300 $11,200
On the first On the next	$160,000 $160,000	- 17	$15,500 $27,200
On the first On the next	$320,000 $320,000	- 20	$42,700

 

Please refer to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore website for more information.