Who can e-File IR21
You must be authorized by your company either as a Preparer or an Approver for the e-Filing of Form IR21.
Roles and Access Rights for Preparer and Approver are as follows:
Preparer
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Approver
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Cannot submit e-IR21.
View / edit / delete drafts prepared by himself and other Preparers within the organisation.
View tax clearance status of IR21 filed via post / fax.
View all Correspondence / Notices sent by IRAS.
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Approve and submit any e-IR21 pending approval.
Prepare e-IR21
View / edit / delete drafts prepared by Preparers, himself and other Approvers within the organisation.
View filing and tax clearance status of e-filed IR21 and IR21 filed via post / fax.
View all Correspondence / Notices sent by IRAS.
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Getting Ready
Before you start filing, please get ready the relevant information required to complete the Form IR21. These include:
- Employee's Details
- Employment Records
- Income Details
The filing may take you 5 - 10 minutes to complete. To guide you through the e-Filing process, you can refer to the User Guide, Demo Guide or the FAQs (79KB)
Please clear your cache (temporary internet files) before and after your e-Filing. Learn more on how to clear cache.
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Online Help
If you need help during e-Filing, please:
- Click on the icon <
>, known as ‘i-help’; or
- Click on "Ask IRAS" at the top right hand corner of the page.
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Points to note when e-Filing
"Save as draft" facility
If you are not able to complete your filing at one session, you may save the e-IR21 as draft. You can access the draft later and make the necessary amendments before you submit the e-IR21.
The draft will be available up till 21 days from the date of creation.
Timeout
If a filing session is left idle for more than 20 minutes, a connection timeout will occur and you have to log in to the portal again. If you are unable to complete your filing, save your changes as draft before you logout from the Portal.
Acknowledgement
If your e-Filing is successful, you will see an Acknowledgement page after you click Submit. To save the page with Internet Explorer:
- Select "File Menu > Save As" on the browser window.
- Select the location to save the HTML document.
- Type in the desired file name in "File Name:" and click on "Save" button.
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File New IR21 Page
For this page, please complete the active fields (i.e. not greyed out) in sequential order.
Click anywhere on the page after completing Item 3 / 4 / 5 to allow the page to refresh and process your entries.
Please confirm the relevant entries before clicking on Continue to proceed as you are not allowed to change any of these inputs in subsequent pages.
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Auto Salary Inclusion Scheme
Please see table below for the corresponding course of actions.
Scenarios |
Changes to be made to income details |
No change to income details |
Income details for the year prior to the year of cessation has been transmitted to IRAS under the Auto Salary Inclusion Scheme
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Select:
-"Yes" to the "Auto Salary Inclusion Scheme" question.
-"Yes" to the "changes to the income details" question.
Please furnish the amended income details.
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Select:
-"Yes" to the "Auto Salary Inclusion Scheme" question.
-"No" to the "changes to the income details" question.
You do not need to refurnish the income details.
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| Income details for the year prior to the year of cessation has not been transmitted |
Select:
-"No" to the "Auto Salary Inclusion Scheme" question.
Please furnish the income details.
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Type of e-IR21
Please select the appropriate type of e-IR21 and complete it according to the guidelines below.
Original |
Additional |
Amended |
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- Indicate "Additional" if you wish to obtain further clearance on additional amount of remuneration payable to the employee after the filing of Original e-IR21.
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- Indicate "Amended" if you wish to make changes to the Original e-IR21 submitted.
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- Enter only the additional income payable.
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- Enter all fields as this filing supercedes the original e-IR21 filed.
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- Do not enter the income details filed in the Original e-IR21.
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Common mistakes made in e-filing
It is important that you provide full and complete information when filing Form IR21.
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Mistakes |
What you need to do |
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Declaring Employment Income |
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| 1 |
My employee worked with my company from 1 Nov 2009 to 31 May 2010. His income for this whole period is $35,000. I reported this amount under the column 'year of cessation'.
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This is incorrect. You should report your employee's income separately for each calendar year and report accordingly:
a) Year of Cessation (1 Jan 2010 to 31 May 2010) - Income $25,000
b) Year Prior to Year of Cessation (1 Nov 2009 to 31 Dec 2009) - Income $10,000. |
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Withholding monies for Tax Clearance |
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| 2 |
My employee tendered his resignation on payday. I paid him his last month's salary. I do not know that I have to withhold monies for tax clearance. So, I reflect as zero in the field for 'Monies withheld pending tax clearance' when preparing the Form IR21.
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Your company will be liable for the tax payable by the employee since you could have withheld the last month's salary for tax clearance. |
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Employee's Income Tax Borne by Employer |
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| 3 |
Since I shall deduct the tax payable by my employee from his last salary, I have indicated this by crossing the checkbox: Income Tax Borne by the Employer in the Form IR21.
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This is incorrect. Your company is not picking up the tab for his tax bill. You are merely deducting his income tax from his salary to pay to IRAS. Do Not cross the box for the item 'Income Tax Borne by the Employer' as there is tax consequence.
Where the employee's income tax liability is actually paid off by the employer, the tax that is borne by the company forms a taxable component in the hands of the employee.
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| 4 |
Since I have withheld my employee's salary pending tax clearance, I have indicated this by crossing the box: Income Tax Borne by the Employer in the Form IR21.
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This is incorrect. Do not cross the box since your company is not picking up the tab for his tax bill.
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Unexercised Stock Options |
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| 5 |
My employee has not exercised his stock options when he ceased employment in Singapore. There is no stock gains to be reported in the Form IR21.
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Your employee is deemed to have derived stock gains at the point of tax clearance under the 'deemed exercise rule'. You will need to compute the deemed gains from the unexercised stock options and report this in the Form IR21 - Appendix 2. See What to do if there are unexercised stocks options.
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Making Changes After Filing |
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| 6 |
I am making out some additional payments to my employee for overtime put in by him. I have completed the 'Additional' Form IR21, reporting the total income paid to him thus far.
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This is incorrect. You should only report the additional overtime pay in the 'Additional' Form IR21. Remember to:
a) Cross the checkbox to indicate 'Additional' and enter date of the Form IR21 filed earlier
b) Enter the overtime pay in the field for 'Monies Withheld'
c) Withhold the overtime payment pending tax clearance.
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| 7 |
I discovered some errors after filing. The income for my employee should be lower than that reported. I have completed another 'Original' Form IR21 to replace the one filed earlier.
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This is incorrect. You should complete the 'Amended' Form IR21 to supercede the 'Original'. Cross the checkbox to indicate 'Amended' and enter date of the Form IR21 filed earlier.
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Need additional help to e-File?
You may call our Tax Clearance Helpline for additional help to e-File. Please call 1800-356 8300 (or +65-6356 8300 if you are overseas).
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