A comprehensive guide to company income tax of Singapore for small businesses. Tax exceptions, time frames and Singapore taxation rules.

1. Singapore Corporate
Income Tax
Rates, system, and reliefs

2. 6. Corporate Income tax rebate
7. Tax payment process
5. Requirements for tax exemption
4. Basic exemption schemes: SUTE and PTE
3. Territorial basis
1. What corporate income tax is
Contents:
2. Single-tier and flat rate
8. Income tax papers timeframe

3. 1. What corporate
income tax is

4. A corporate income tax is the sum you pay
on your profits after you deduct your
expenses, but before you pay out dividends.
The sum of money the tax is applied to is
called the chargeable income. In many
cases, not all the revenue is taxed because
there are tax incentives, reliefs and other
allowances/deductions that reduce the
chargeable income.
What corporate income tax is
Revenue
—
Expenses
—
Incentives, Reliefs,
Allowances,
Deductions
=
Chargeable Income

5. 2. Single-tier
and flat rate

6. Single-tier: your company’s profit is taxed
one single time and all the dividends paid to
the shareholders are exempt from further
taxation.
Flat rate: tax is the same for both local and
foreign companies. From 2010, the corporate
income tax rate stands at 17%.
Single-tier and flat rate

7. 3. Territorial basis

8. Tax Residency
the territory where you get your income from is key
for the tax you pay on it.
Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements
(DTAs) Singapore has DTAs with nearly a hundred
countries in the world, so you avoid being taxed
twice on certain types of cross-border income.
The territorial basis for corporate tax

9. A Singapore-registered company that has its
operations overseas will pay the corporate income
tax only on what goes through its Singaporean bank
account — as viewed received and remitted in
Singapore. However, there is no universal rule for
such cases, each is examined separately by IRAS.
Example:
Andy has a design firm registered in Singapore. He
lives and works in Italy and all his clients are in Italy.
They pay him to his company’s French bank
account and the only money from his profit that
reaches Singapore is the operating costs of the
company there. Only this sum will be taxed by IRAS.
Foreign-sourced income

10. 4. Exemptions: SUTE,
PTE

11. Your company’s age defines what scheme can be applied to you.
For the first 3 years of assessment, a company falls under Start-up Tax
Exemption (SUTE).
Let’s have a look at the reductions applicable since YA 2020 onwards:
Basic exemptions schemes: SUTE
Investment holdings and real estate industry companies are not eligible for
this scheme. Instead, they will be given partial tax exemptions.

12. For the 4th year of assessment onward, a company can enjoy Partial tax
Exemption (PTE).
Here are the reductions applicable from YA 2020 onwards:
Basic exemptions schemes: PTE

13. 5. Requirements
for tax exemption

14. Is your company eligible for SUTE and PTE schemes?
• At least one of the shareholders is a person
and holds more than 10%
• You have fewer than 20 shareholders
• You are not an investment holding or a
property development company
• Your company is a tax resident in Singapore
for the current year of assessment
• Your company is incorporated in Singapore

15. 6. Corporate
Income tax
rebate

16. Corporate Income Tax rebate
All companies are given a corporate income tax rebate.
IRAS deducts the rebate automatically when you file the
income tax documents (ECI and C-S/C forms).
Basically it’s a percentage by which your tax is reduced. If
you must pay S$10,000 and the rebate is 20%, you will
pay: S$10,000 – S$2,000 = S$8,000.
For 2019 year of assessment, the rebate is 20%. Mind that
the total sum you can save is capped at S$10,000.
The rebates for 2020 will be known as soon as the 2020
budget is made public. The fiscal year in Singapore starts
on the 1st of April 2020.

17. 7. Tax payment process

18. Tax payment process
File Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) with IRAS
IRAS will know your tax base so as to calculate your
tax. ECI form shows your income before any
exemptions, so don’t include SUTE and PTE
deductions.
The deadline for the ECI is within 3 months from the
end of the financial year.
You can get an ECI waiver, if your annual revenue is
not above S$5 million and your ECI estimation is nil.
1

19. Tax payment process
File Form C-S or Form C, depending on your
annual revenue
It will be the main paper indicating how much you’ve
earned in total. If you’ve earned nothing or there have
been losses, it must also be reported in the form.
You must submit it each year of assessment by
December 15 if you are filing online, and by
November 30 — if you stick to the paper form. From
YA 2020 onwards, IRAS makes e-filing compulsory
2

20. Tax payment process
IRAS calculates how much tax you owe and sends you the
Notice of Assessment (NOA)
After you receive it, you have 30 days to pay the tax. If you object to
the estimation, you have to pay the tax first then file objections.
If the Form C-S/ C figure < ECI figure: the excess of the corporate
income tax paid earlier will be automatically refunded.
If Form C-S/ C figure > ECI figure: the additional tax must be paid
within 1 month from the date you get the NOA.
If IRAS doesn’t get the ECI or Form C-S/ C on time, they issue NOA
based on their own estimation and you you have 1 month to pay it.
3

21. 8. Timeframe
for tax papers

22. Timeframe for tax papers
Document Due date Issuer
Estimated Chargeable
Income (ECI)
3 months from the FYE Company
Form C-S/C
By 15 December - for e-filing, by
30 November - for paper filing
Company
Notice of Assessment
(NOA)
The date varies, depending on the
complexity of the tax returns
submitted
IRAS

23. How tax exemptions work in
Singapore
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