Tax treatment of gifts given to employees for festive occasions (e.g. New Year) and special occasions (e.g. birthday or wedding).
On this page:
Tax Treatment of Gifts (Summary Table)
Nature | Taxable/ Not taxable | |
|---|---|---|
1 | Festive occasions such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas (cash/ non-cash) | The gifts (e.g. red packets during Chinese New Year) are not taxable if they are not substantial in value and are generally available to all staff. |
2 | Special occasions e.g. celebration of SG50, birthdays, weddings and births of child (cash/ non-cash) | As above |
3 | Bereavement - wreath, condolence tokens, etc. | Not taxable |
Festive Occasions/Special occasions (Cash/Non-Cash)
Cash and non-cash gifts relating to festive and special occasions which do not exceed the exemption threshold of $200 are considered to be not substantial in value and are not taxable due to an administrative concession granted.
If a gift exceeds the exemption threshold, the full value of the gift is taxable. For example, if the baby gift set is worth $250, the taxable value is $250.
The threshold of $200 is applicable per occasion.
Applying the Exemption Threshold
For example, an employee is given a cash gift of $200 on his wedding, a birthday gift of $50 and a Christmas gift of $80 in the same year.
All gifts are not taxable as the value of each gift does not exceed $200. The birthday gift given to an employee every year is also not taxable if each gift does not exceed $200.