What is a dormant company?
A dormant company is one that does not carry on business and has no income for the whole of the preceding year.
Does a dormant company need to submit Form C?
A dormant company must submit Form C unless it has been granted waiver for submission of Form C.
How to file Form C?
If your company has not been granted a waiver of the Form C submission, you must file Form C via one of the following modes:
For paper filing:
- If the company has no unutilised losses/donations brought forward from a previous Year of Assessment (YA), it should complete and submit only Page 1 of Form C.
- If the company has unutilised losses/donations brought forward from a previous YA, it needs to complete:
- Page 1 of Form C;
- Box 1a and Boxes 3 to 9 on Page 2 of Form C; and
- Boxes 24 to 27 on Page 4 of Form C.
The company must submit Pages 1, 2 and 4 of the Form C to IRAS.
For e-Filing:
You can e-File Form C via myTax Portal if you have been authorised by the company as an “Approver” for “Corporate tax matters” via EASY.
For details, please refer to:
User Guides:
For company (709KB)
For tax agent (948KB)
FAQs (38KB)
Does a dormant company need to submit accounts?
Prior to YA 2007, a dormant company had to submit its audited or unaudited accounts with Form C unless it was granted a waiver for Form C submission.
With effect from YA 2007, a dormant company does not need to submit its accounts with Form C.
However, a dormant company must still submit its accounts to ACRA for its annual return filing, as there are no exemptions for filing of accounts with ACRA. For more information on ACRA's filing requirements for dormant companies, please refer to ACRA website on Dormant Companies .
How to apply for a waiver of Form C Submission
A dormant company can apply for a waiver via one of the following modes:
For e-Application
You can apply for a waiver electronically via myTax Portal under “Apply for waiver to submit Income Tax Return (Form C) by a dormant company” if you have been authorised as an "Approver" for "Corporate tax matters" via EASY.
For more details, please refer to:
User Guides
For company (115KB)
For tax agent (114KB)
FAQs (80KB)
For paper application
You can submit a paper application for waiver by completing the Application for Waiver of Income Tax Return (Form C) Submission by a Dormant Company (51KB) form to IRAS.
We will reply in writing to inform the company of its application status.
If the application is approved, the company will not be issued with a Form C in future. However, if the company re-commences business, or receives any income subsequently, the company has to notify IRAS immediately by completing and submitting the form "Request for Form C for Newly Incorporated Companies or Companies Granted Waiver to Submit Form C / Change of Particulars" (36KB).
FAQs
The company cannot claim capital allowances and expenses incurred in the preceding year, as it did not carry on a trade or business.
However, unutilised losses brought forward from a previous YA can be deducted against income for a subsequent YA if 50% or more of the ultimate shareholders and their respective shareholdings are the same as at the relevant dates. Find out more about how to determine if the shareholding test is met.
Yes, a dormant company can do so if the donations were made to an approved Institution of a Public Character (IPC) or the Singapore Government that benefit the local community. Any unutilised donations arising from a YA can be carried forward to subsequent YAs up to a maximum of five years, subject to meeting the shareholding test mentioned in Q1 above.
If the company owns investments (i.e. Part II Box 2 on Page 1 of Form C is unchecked) but the company did not carry on business, had no income in the preceding year (i.e. Part II Box 1 on Page 1 of Form C is checked), the company can still file Form C according to the filing requirements of a dormant company.