Filing Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) and Paying Estimated Taxes

^New! In Budget 2018, the Minister for Finance announced that the cap for the CIT Rebate for YA 2018 will be raised to 40% of the corporate tax payable subject to a cap of $15,000. This is an increase from the previously announced rebate of 20% of the corporate tax payable, subject to a cap of $10,000. In addition, the CIT Rebate will be extended to YA 2019 at 20% of the corporate tax payable, subject to a cap of $10,000.

Companies need not factor in the CIT Rebate when filing their ECI for YAs 2018 and 2019 as IRAS will compute and allow the Rebate automatically.

^Revised! IRAS has started to revise the tax assessments of companies that filed their YAs 2018 and 2019 ECI previously and received Notices of Assessment (NOAs) that did not take into account the CIT Rebate changes. The affected companies can expect to receive the revised NOAs and refunds for the excess tax paid by April 2018. If the company is paying the tax on ECI by instalments, the revised instalment plan will be issued to the company with the revised NOAs.

Companies may also view the revised NOAs at mytax.iras.gov.sg.

As announced in Budget 2016, in line with Government's direction for more cost effective delivery of public services and the Smart Nation vision to harness technology to enhance productivity, e-Filing of Corporate Income Tax returns (including ECI, Form C and Form C-S) will be made compulsory in a phased approach from YAs 2018 to 2020 as follows:

The phased implementation will provide more time for smaller companies to modify their processes and ease into e-Filing.

There are two ways to submit your ECI. With the introduction of compulsory e-Filing starting from YA 2018, companies are strongly encouraged to start e-Filing early.

1. e-File via mytax.iras.gov.sg
   
   Before e-filing, please ensure:
   1. You have been authorised by the company as an "Approver" for Corporate Tax Matters via the e-Services Authorisation System (EASY); and
   2. You have the company's tax reference number and your personal SingPass or IRAS PIN.
2. Paper file

3. The completed ECI Form can be submitted to IRAS by post:

   Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
   55 Newton Road
   Revenue House
   Singapore 307987
4. e-Filing of ECI is currently available for YA 2018 and YA 2019. For YA 2017 ECI, please paper file instead.

Companies that e-File their ECI enjoy:

1. Instant acknowledgement upon successful e-Filing; and
2. A greater number of instalments to pay your company's estimated tax.

Only companies that are on GIRO qualify for instalment payment. Companies that do not have an existing GIRO arrangement for Corporate Tax are encouraged to apply for GIRO at least 14 days before e-filing their ECI.

If the GIRO arrangement is not approved before the payment due date, the company will not be eligible for instalment payment and will need to pay the full amount of estimated tax by the payment due date. You can check the status of your company's GIRO application through the Corporate Tax integrated phone service.

Notes
1. The instalment plan is subject to a minimum monthly GIRO deduction amount of $50.
2. The first few instalments could be combined and deducted on the first GIRO deduction date, depending on the date of filing of ECI. Please see example 2 below.
3. IRAS reserves the right to vary the instalment plan for companies that file revised ECIs.

Companies need not factor in the Tax Exemption Scheme for New Start-Up Companies/ Partial Tax exemption and the YAs 2018 and 2019 Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rebate when filing their ECI. IRAS will compute these and allow the New Start-Up Companies/ Partial Tax exemption and CIT rebate automatically.

Example: Calculation of ECI for YA 2019
Your company’s Profit and Loss statement for financial year 2018 (Year of Assessment 2019) is as follows:

The company also purchased a new private car (SJX 123), a computer for $1,200 and a filing cabinet for $300 in YA 2019. There were no unutilised capital allowances brought forward from the previous YA.

 The calculation of the company’s ECI is as follows:

When e-Filing the ECI, the company can report its revenue as “$80,000” and ECI figure as “$5,645” under the 17% tax rate category. If the company also qualifies for the Tax Exemption Scheme for New Start-Up Companies, the company has to indicate accordingly in the relevant box of the ECI return. For more information, please refer to the “File Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI)” user guide.

 1.No capital allowance is to be given on private cars (S-plated cars), RU-plated cars and company cars (Q-plated or S-plated cars). 

After IRAS has processed the ECI form, your company will receive a Notice of Assessment (NOA), which is an official Notice that states the amount of tax to be paid. You can also view the NOA at mytax.iras.gov.sg. However, no NOA will be issued if your company filed a "Nil" ECI amount.

The tax must be paid within one month from the date of the NOA, unless you are paying via instalment (GIRO). The NOA will include information on the various ways to pay.

Ways to Pay

There are two ways to pay your taxes:

1. Payment by GIRO
   Companies that wish to pay taxes by instalment must sign up for GIRO by submitting a GIRO application.
2. Payment by other Electronic Modes
   You can also make payment via internet Banking, Phone Banking, NETS, etc.

For details on other payment modes, please refer to How to Pay.

GIRO Instalment Plans for Singapore-registered Companies

You may qualify for GIRO instalment plan as long as you are a Singapore-registered company.