We thank taxpayers for giving us your suggestions and feedback through our various feedback channels. Here are some highlights of your suggestions and feedback, as well as IRAS' follow-up actions.

You can also read highlights of past feedback here.

Clear Guidelines

No. Suggestions and FeedbackIRAS' Response
1

Criteria and instruction on Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) filing waiver

i) To provide clarity on the criteria for ECI filing waiver so that companies can self-assess if their ECI filing can be waived.

 

ii) To provide clear instruction required by companies who meet the ECI waiver conditions in the e-Service – View Corporate Tax Filing Status

i) We have updated our website on companies that do not need to submit ECI to clarify that:

  • Companies must meet both the revenue threshold and the “NIL ECI” criteria in order to be eligible for ECI waiver, with supporting illustrations.
  • Companies that are eligible for ECI waiver do not need to file the ECI for the particular YA, even though the company’s ECI filing status for the YA at myTax Portal shows “Ready to File”. There is no need to seek confirmation from or inform IRAS.

 

ii) We have included an iHelp message in the e-Service, under the ECI filing status - “Ready to File”, in Apr 2018 to advise companies to ignore the filing requirement if they meet the ECI waiver condition.

  • The iHelp message will show “You may ignore this ECI filing requirements if your company qualifies for the waiver to file ECI”
2

e-Filing of Form C/ C-S

To provide guidance on how to navigate to myTax Portal for the purpose of e-Filing Form C/ C-S following Corppass registration at Corppass website.

We have updated our Corppass setup user guides to include instructions on how to navigate to myTax Portal for the purpose of e-Filing Form C/ C-S after Corppass registration have been set up.

3

GST treatment for businesses in the Meetings, Incentive Travel, Convention and Exhibitions (MICE) Industry

To provide more GST guidance for businesses supplying goods and/or services in the MICE industry.

We have published a new eTax Guide “GST: Exhibition, Convention and Ancillary Services (PDF, 626KB)” to explain the GST treatment for various supplies of goods and/or services in the MICE industry, such as the provision of exhibition space and registration/ administration fees for exhibitions.

4

Zero-rating of services performed completely outside Singapore

To provide more information on the type of services performed outside Singapore that qualifies for zero-rating under Section 21(3)(i) of the GST Act.

We have updated our website to elaborate on the types of educational and entertainment services that qualify for zero-rating under Section 21(3)(i) of the GST Act if they were performed completely outside Singapore.

5

Mistakes made in import declarations

To provide a summary on GST reporting requirements under different scenarios (e.g. over/under-declared value of imports, wrong importer’s name on import permit etc.).

We have updated our website to explain what GST-registered businesses should do when they make mistakes in their import declarations.

6

Qualifying conditions for relief of Stamp Duty upon conversion of private company to limited liability partnership

To provide greater clarity on the qualifying conditions for the relief.

We have updated our website to clarify that one of the qualifying conditions for the relief is that the amount of capital contributed by each original partner remains the same before and as at the date of the conversion.

7

Treatment for Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) on collective sales

To provide clearer guidance on SSD treatment to taxpayers who sold their properties in a collective sale.

We have included 3 new FAQs in our website, in response to the common enquiries and clarifications received on SSD treatment on collective sales.

8

Information for payment of Property Tax for taxpayers going through collective sales

To provide clarity on information for payment of property tax to taxpayers who are selling their properties in a collective sale.

We have included a new infographic webpage in our website, in response to the common enquiries and clarifications received on payment of property tax for collective sales.

9

Website information on Parenthood Tax Rebate (PTR)

To provide clarity how to determine the child order for PTR.

We have updated our website to provide clarity on determining the child order for PTR.

10

Income tax obligations for foreigners working in Singapore

To provide more information regarding the income tax obligations of foreigners who are re-employed in Singapore on the IRAS website.

We have since provided the following on our website:

For foreigners working in Singapore

  • We have uploaded an infographic brochure on our website infographic brochure and inserted a QR code in the educational letter for taxpayers’ easy access of the brochure.

For re-employed foreigners working in Singapore

  • We have updated our website to provide the relevant information and also included FAQs on common enquiries to enable re-employed foreign taxpayers to better understand their income tax obligations.
11

Filling of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) declaration form

To provide clarity on what needs to be declared by the taxpayers in the ABSD declaration form.

We have revised the ABSD declaration form in Aug 2018 to clarify the instructions on the form filling.

Simple ways to comply

No.Suggestions and FeedbackIRAS' Response
1

Position of hyperlink “Breakdown Request” on Wage Credit Scheme (WCS)

(Available on IRAS website from Mar to Oct each year)

The hyperlink to request for WCS breakdown should appear higher up, or in certain order, on the related services list in the website instead of at the rear bottom of the page for ease of search.

We have updated our website to list the hyperlink for request of WCS breakdown higher for ease of finding.

We have also re-arranged the list of services in alphabetical order (i.e. Calculators/ e-Services/ Forms/ Guides/ Pages).

2

Pre-claim evaluation of Research and Development (R&D) projects

To lower the threshold for the R&D project’s pre-claim evaluation scheme so as to make the scheme accessible to more taxpayers.

We have lowered the threshold from $20 million to $15 million since Mar 2018 to make the R&D project’s pre-claim evaluation scheme available to more taxpayers.

3

Limitation of the Group Relief Form (Form GR-A) in Form C – Upload

To consider amending the Form GR-A (Form C – Upload) to allow details of claimant companies to be included even if the quantum of loss items to be transferred is NIL.

We have revised YA 2018’s (Form C – Upload) to allow details of claimant companies to be included in the Form GR-A even if the quantum of loss items to be transferred is NIL with effect from Jun 2018.

4

GST return acknowledgement page

To reduce the length of the 3-page acknowledgement generated on successful filing of GST return for eco-friendlier printouts.

We have made adjustments to the acknowledgment page to reduce the length to 2 pages in Feb 2018. Nonetheless, businesses are encouraged to save a digital copy for their reference instead of printing a hardcopy.

5

Input tax claims for partially exempt businesses

Businesses which make both taxable and exempt supplies (‘partially exempt businesses’) found it difficult to understand and apply the apportionment rules for claiming input GST on their purchases.

We have introduced a Partial Exemption Input Tax Recovery Calculator (XLS, 955KB)for businesses to self-determine the amount of input tax they can claim on their purchases.

6

Transacting through “Ask Jamie”

Ask Jamie can only respond to general tax enquiries. To transact or enquire about personalised tax matters, taxpayers have to do so through myTax Portal or enquire through other service channels where they can be authenticated.

We have introduced Singpass authentication on Ask Jamie since Aug 2018. Taxpayers can now check their filing status, outstanding tax amount and whether they are on GIRO through Ask Jamie. New services will be progressively added to Ask Jamie.

Enquiries that cannot be answered by Ask Jamie will be routed to Live Chat agents.

7

One stop service for businesses and companies

To provide one touchpoint for businesses and companies.

ACRA’s service counters have been co-located at the Taxpayer and Business Service Centre (TBSC) at Revenue House since Sep 2018. The co-location allows businesses and companies to obtain business-related services such as business registration, tax matters, Corppass and business advisory services under one roof.

8

Certificate of Resident (COR) submission for Withholding Tax

To allow submission of COR electronically and clearer instruction on how to submit COR for the purpose of claiming tax relief/exemption under the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA).

We have since provided the following on our website:

  • An online form that serves as a cover letter to facilitate submission of COR electronically wef Dec 2018.
  • A step-by-step guide on claiming of tax relief/exemption under DTA and COR submission.
9

Interactive demo on e-filing services

To remove the hyperlinks to the interactive demo on e-filing of Form C-S, Form C, Access Company Dashboard and Access Tax Agents from the IRAS website as the public mistook these demo as scam websites.

We have removed all the hyperlinks to the interactive demo since May 2018 to address the concern from the public. These are replaced by user guides showing the step-by-step navigation screenshots of the respective e-Services.

10

Apply Certificate of Residence (COR) online

To consider not imposing the requirement to complete the remittance date details for COR applications in respect of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) which do not have the Limitation of Relief (LOR) provision.

We have removed the requirement for taxpayers to provide the details on remittance of income during COR application in Nov 2018.

We have also updated our website to inform companies of the enhancement and highlight the remittance condition for claiming treaty benefits under DTAs with LOR provision.

11

Feedback by employers to improve the Tax Clearance e-Service

  • To rename the “Approve” button used by Authorised Approvers, as it gave Authorised Approvers the impression that the Form IR21 would be submitted to IRAS directly upon clicking the button without being given the chance to first review the draft prepared by their Preparers.
  • To prompt Authorised Approvers to provide their contact details only at the point of Form IR21 submission, instead of whenever they navigate out of the “Consolidated Statement” page.

We have made the following changes:

  • We have renamed the action button from “Approve” to “Review” and updated the user guide.
  • We have enhanced the e-Service to prompt Authorised Approvers to provide their contact details only after they have clicked on the action button to submit the Form IR21.