IRAS believes that while most taxpayers are compliant, a small group of taxpayers may be ignorant or negligent of their tax obligations. The IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Program aims to help this group of taxpayers ensure their tax matters are in order by encouraging them to come forward, in a timely manner, to disclose errors or omissions made.
The Voluntary Disclosure Program applies to Income Tax (including withholding tax) and Goods and Services Tax (GST), and is not applicable to taxpayers who wilfully evade taxes. Strong deterrent measures, including prosecution, will be taken against those who are deliberately errant.
Penalty Waiver and Reduced Penalty
Instead of imposing maximum penalties (up to 200% of tax undercharged for Income Tax and tax unpaid for GST, and up to 20% for Withholding Tax unpaid) for submission of incorrect returns due to negligence or without reasonable excuse, IRAS is prepared to accord the following penalty treatments for first-time voluntary disclosures which meet the qualifying conditions under the Voluntary Disclosure Program:
Types of Voluntary Disclosures
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Penalty Treatment
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Timely voluntary disclosures made within a grace period of 1 year from statutory filing date
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Waiver of penalty
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Voluntary disclosures made after grace period
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Reduced penalty of :
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^ For Income Tax, penalty waiver is granted for voluntary disclosures made within a ‘grace period’ of 1 year from the statutory filing date. After the lapse of the ‘grace period’, IRAS will impose a reduced penalty of 5% for every back year the disclosure was untimely, on an incremental basis.
Qualifying Conditions
A voluntary disclosure under the Voluntary Disclosure Program is one which is timely, accurate, complete and self-initiated by the taxpayer. The taxpayer should also demonstrate full cooperation with IRAS to correct mistakes made and willingness to make arrangements with IRAS to pay additional taxes raised and/or penalties imposed (if any).
To Notify IRAS
To inform IRAS on errors or omissions made in the past, taxpayers may do the following:
Alternatively, taxpayers may write in to:
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Revenue House
55 Newton Road
Singapore 307987
For More Information
Taxpayers may refer to the e-Tax guide on IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Program.