Assessment Process

Income Tax Return (Form C/ Form C-S) Review Process for Companies
Submission of Revised Income Tax Computations by Companies
Types of Notices of Assessment 

Income Tax Return (Form C/ Form C-S) Review Process for Companies

IRAS adopts a risk-based approach in reviewing the income tax returns of companies. Companies are profiled based on their complexities and risk to revenue.

Companies with relatively straight forward tax affairs generally do not require detailed review of their tax returns on a year-to-year basis. Their tax returns are accepted upfront by IRAS with little or no adjustment. The assessments are completed based on the companies’ declarations in the tax returns and Notices of Assessment (NOA Type 4) will be issued to the companies.

On the other hand, companies with more complex tax matters are subject to manual review of their yearly tax returns. Pending the review of the tax return, an estimated assessment may be raised based on the Form C/ Form C-S filing. A Notice of Estimated Assessment (NOA Type 3) will be issued to the company. Enquiries and tax adjustments may be made when IRAS reviews the tax return. A Notice of Assessment (NOA Type 4) will be issued to the company after IRAS has reviewed the return.

To complement our risk-based approach, IRAS conducts post assessment reviews on a segment of companies each year. The objectives of such checks are to ensure that the tax returns submitted are complete and accurate and the resultant assessments are in order. Where necessary, IRAS may call for supporting documents from companies to substantiate their declarations. Amended/additional Notices of Assessment (NOA Type 4) may also be issued to the companies if tax adjustments are made in the course of the post-assessment reviews.

Submission of Revised Income Tax Computations by Companies

Companies that need to submit revised income tax computations subsequent to filing of their tax returns are encouraged to complete the Form for Filing Revised Income Tax Computation(s) (160KB) and submit it together with their revised income tax computations. Alternatively, they can also write in stating the Year of Assessment (YA) affected, item(s) revised for the relevant YA and reason(s) for making the revision.

Disclosure of errors or omissions via revised income tax computation(s) (excluding situations where companies are selected for an audit/investigation by IRAS) may be considered as a Voluntary Disclosure. Please click here for more information on IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Program.

Types of Notices of Assessment

The table below summarises the different types of Notice of Assessment (NOA) issued and whether it is necessary to object to each type of NOA:

For information such as how to pay, refund of taxes, please refer to After getting Notice of Assessment.

Exempt income/ loss reflected in NOA from Year of Assessment (YA) 2009

Prior to YA 2009, a separate Exempt Dividend Account (EDA) Statement and Notice of Computation of Profit were issued for income exempt from tax under:

Under the one-tier corporate tax system which takes effect from YA 2009, it is no longer necessary to track the balance of exempt income and the amount of normal exempt dividends paid by companies. As such, the above types of exempt income/ loss will be reflected in the NOA (i.e. companies will no longer receive the EDA Statement and Notice of Computation of Profit).