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Basic Guide for New Companies

For new companies to understand their tax filing obligations.

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New Company Start-Up Kit

Access the New Company Start-Up Kit, an interactive e-learning guide, to learn more about your corporate tax filing obligations. This Kit will provide you with the information you need for your first tax filing process - from incorporation to the filing of the first Corporate Tax Return.

 Find out more about the New Company Start-Up Kit.

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Corporate Income Tax Filing Obligations that are applicable to Newly Incorporated Companies

 All companies are required to submit two corporate income tax forms to IRAS every year:

 Form  Due Date
Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI)Within 3 months from the end of financial year, unless the company does not need to submit ECI 
Form C-S/ C30 Nov; or 15 Dec (e-File)

 

Filing of Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI)

New companies incorporated in 2017 are required to file the ECI within three months from the company's first financial year end.

If your company is incorporated in 2017 and closes its first set of accounts in 2017, no ECI filing notification will be sent to you in 2017 as most companies do not close their first set of accounts in the year of incorporation. However, you are still required to file the ECI within three months from your company's first financial year end, unless the company qualifies for the administrative concession and does not need to file the ECI.

As most companies have their financial year end on 31 Dec, a new company is required to inform IRAS if its financial year end is not 31 Dec. For details, please refer to Updating Company Particulars.

Otherwise, you will receive the ECI notification from IRAS in Dec, starting from the year after the year of incorporation. If your company is incorporated in 2017 and closes its first set of accounts in Dec 2018, you will receive a ECI notification from IRAS in Dec 2018 reminding you to e-File your ECI by Mar 2019.

Example

First financial periodECI notificationFile ECI forFile first ECI by 

YA 2018

YA 2019

 

15 Jul 2017 to 31 Dec 2017

No notification is sent in 2017

Tick

 

31 Mar 2018

 

15 Jul 2017 to 31 Dec 2018 (See note below)

Notification sent in Dec 2018

Tick

Tick

31 Mar 2019

 

Note :

As the company's first set of accounts covers a period of more than 12 months from the date of incorporation, its profit/losses must be attributed and declared under two Years of Assessment (YAs) as follows:

  • YA 2018 covering the basis period from 15 Jul 2017 to 31 Dec 2017; and
  • YA 2019 covering the basis period from 1 Jan 2018 to 31 Dec 2018.

Time apportionment basis may be used if the company is not able to directly identify income and expenses to the two periods.

Find out more about Basis Period and Year of Assessment.

 

Companies That Do Not Need to Submit ECI

To reduce the compliance cost on businesses, IRAS has increased the annual revenue threshold for ECI waiver from $1 million to $5 million. Your company does not need to file its ECI for the particular YA if it meets the following criteria:

Company's Financial Year endCriteria for ECI waiver 
In or before Jun 2017 
  1. annual revenue is not more than $1 million for the financial year; and
  2. ECI* is NIL for the YA.
In or after Jul 2017 
  1. annual revenue is not more than $5 million for the financial year; and
  2. ECI* is NIL for the YA.

* The ECI should be the amount before deducting the exempt amount under the partial tax exemption or the tax exemption scheme for new start-up companies.

There is no need to inform IRAS if the company meets the conditions and does not need to file its ECI.

For details, please refer to the FAQs section of Companies That Do Not Need to Submit Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI).

 

Filing of Form C-S/ C

 When to file your tax return for the first time?

  

Getting the Form C-S/ C

New companies will start to receive the Form C-S/ C e-Filing notification letter only two years after their year of incorporation, as most do not close their first set of financial statements in the year of incorporation. For example, a company incorporated in 2018 will receive its first e-Filing notification letter for YA 2020 in May 2020.

If your company closed its first set of financial statements in the year of incorporation and has commenced business or was in receipt of any income, please e-File your company's Income Tax Return for the YA immediately following the year of incorporation via the File Form C-S/ C e-Service. For example, if your company was incorporated in 2018 and closed its accounts in 2018, please e-File your company’s Income Tax Return (Form C-S/ C) for YA 2019 if you have commenced business or received any income in 2018. The Form C-S/ C e-Filing service for a given YA will be made available in Jun of that year. Hence, you may e-File the company's YA 2019 Form C-S/ C starting from Jun 2019 (after the e-Filing service is made available) to 15 Dec 2019 (the e-Filing due date).

Find out whether you qualify to file the simplified Form C (Form C-S) here. 

e-Filing your company's first Income Tax Return (Form C-S/ C)

To e-File the Form C-S/ C at mytax.iras.gov.sg, please ensure that the company has authorised its staff or a 3rd party (e.g., the tax agent) in CorpPass. Please have the following information on hand:

  • Company's tax reference number (e.g. 200912345N, T12AA3456X, A1234567)
  • CorpPass ID and CorpPass password

For assistance on  CorpPass setup, please refer to Step-by-Step Guides.

For companies that are required to file their first Income Tax Return, please refer to this step-by-step guide (2.65MB).

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Attribution of Profits/ Losses for New Companies

Some new companies operate more than 12 months before closing their first set of accounts. When this happens, the first set of accounts covers more than 12 months.

Generally, the basis period cannot exceed 12 months, so the profits or losses must be apportioned and attributed to two different YAs.

The company should directly identify the income earned and expenses incurred for each of the two YAs, based on the actual dates the income was earned and the expenses were incurred. If this cannot be done, time apportionment basis can be applied (i.e. apportion based on number of days in the corresponding YAs).

Example

Date of Incorporation  15 Apr 2017
Financial Year End 30 Jun every year 
Accounts Closed On  30 Jun 2018
Revenue $120,000 
Expenses  $60,000 
1st YA  2018
Basis Period for 1st YA  15 Apr 2017 - 30 Jun 2017
Revenue for 1st YA ($120,000 / 442 days) * 77 days
Expenses for 1st YA ($60,000 / 442 days) * 77 days
2nd YA 2019
Basis Period for 2nd YA  1 Jul 2017 - 30 Jun 2018
Revenue for 2nd YA  ($120,000 / 442 days) * 365 days 
Expenses for 2nd YA  ($60,000 / 442 days) * 365 days

 

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Expenses Incurred before Commencement of Business

Generally, expenses incurred before a business starts its operations are not tax-deductible as these are incurred for the purpose of setting up the operations and not 'wholly and exclusively' for the production of income.

To assist business in enterprise development, revenue expenses incurred one year prior to the deemed date of commencement of business will be deductible for tax purposes.

For more details on the deductibility of expenses incurred before commencement of business and how to determine the actual date of commencement of business, please refer to the Tax Treatment of Business Expenses.

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Corporate Tax Seminars

Company representatives who are responsible for the preparation and filing of the Income Tax Return (Form C-S/ C) and other corporate tax matters are encouraged to sign up for a free Corporate Tax Seminar conducted by IRAS. Subscribe to our e-Alerts to receive updates on IRAS seminars/events.

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  • What is my company’s tax reference number for filing Form C-S/ C?

    Your company's tax reference number may fall within either of following categories below:

     Local Companies with UEN (yyyynnnnnX format) E.g. 200312345A
     Foreign Companies with UEN (TyyPQnnnnX format)  E.g. T08FC1234A
     Others without UEN  E.g. A2500123J

     

    Please use the correct tax reference number to file your Form C-S/ C.

  • What financial year end should I set for my new company?

    The company can decide on a financial year end that best suits its business operation. This is a business decision and IRAS does not determine the financial year end for companies.

    If the company's financial year end is not 31 Dec, please notify us by updating the company's financial year end via the Corporate Profile/ Contacts Details e-Service.

     

  • My company did not file the YA 2019 ECI as it qualifies for the administrative concession on waiver to file ECI. Is my company still required to file the Form C-S/ C for YA 2019 even though it had qualified for the waiver to file the YA 2019 ECI?

    Yes, the company is still required to file the Form C-S/ C for YA 2019 even though the company may be in a loss position and has no chargeable income or had qualified for the waiver to file the YA 2019 ECI.

  • My company has already filed the Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) for YA 2019 to IRAS. Is my company still required to file the Form C-S/ C for YA 2019 by the filing due date of 30 Nov 2019?

    Your company is still required to file the YA 2019 Form C-S/ C to IRAS by the filing due date of 30 Nov 2019 or 15 Dec 2019 (if e-Filing), notwithstanding that it had earlier submitted the YA 2019 ECI to IRAS as the ECI submitted is an estimate.

    All companies need to submit two corporate income tax returns to IRAS every year:

    - ECI - reporting the company's estimated income within three months from the company's financial year end (except for (a) Companies that fulfil the conditions under the Administrative Concession; and (b) Certain entities that are not required to file ECI); and

    - Corporate Income Tax Return (known as Form C-S or Form C) - reporting the company's actual income, by 30 Nov or 15 Dec (if e-Filing) of each year (except for dormant companies for which IRAS has waived the requirement to file a return).

  • My company has filed the Annual Return with ACRA. Does it still need to file the Form C-S/ C to IRAS?

    Yes, the company is still required to submit the Form C-S/ C to IRAS by the filing due date unless the company has been granted waiver to submit the corporate income tax return. 

    If the company is submitting the Form C to IRAS, please note that it does not need to submit the financial statements to IRAS if the company has filed a full set of financial statements with ACRA in XBRL format.

     

  • Does my company need to file the Form C-S/ C to IRAS if it did not carry on business or is in a loss position?

    Yes, the company is still required to submit the Form C-S/ C to IRAS by the filing due date unless the company has been granted waiver to submit the corporate income tax return.

  • My company is newly-incorporated and has not received any notification from IRAS. Do I need to file the Form C-S/ C to IRAS?

    All newly incorporated companies will receive the Form C-S/ C e-Filing notification letter two years after their year of incorporation. For example, a company incorporated in 2018 will receive its first e-Filing notification letter for Year of Assessment 2020 by May 2020.
    However, the company is required to e-File the Form C-S/ C for the YA immediately after the year of incorporation at myTax Portal if it has:

    a) closed its first set of financial statements in the year of incorporation; and
    b) commenced business or was in receipt of any income in the same year.

    In the example above, the company incorporated in 2018 will be required to e-File a tax return for YA 2019 if it closed its first set of financial statements in 2018, and commenced business or received income in 2018. Otherwise, an e-Filing notification for YA 2020 will be sent to the company by May 2020. The Form C-S/ C e-Filing service for a given YA will be made available in Jun of that year. Hence, the company may e-File the company's YA 2019 Form C-S/ C starting from Jun 2019 (after the e-Filing service is made available) to 15 Dec 2019 (the e-Filing due date).
      

  • As a new company, I do not know how to compute my taxes. What should I do?

    You may refer to our Basic Corporate Tax Calculator to assist you in preparing your tax computation and supporting schedules when filing your tax returns. 

  • Does my company qualify for the tax exemption scheme for new start-up companies?

    Eligible companies that satisfy the following three conditions will enjoy the tax exemption scheme for the first three consecutive YAs:

    - Incorporated in Singapore;

    - Tax resident in Singapore for that YA; and

    - Total share capital is beneficially held directly by no more than 20 shareholders throughout the basis period for that YA, where all of the shareholders are individuals or at least one shareholder is an individual holding at least 10% of the issued ordinary shares of the company.

    For more information on determining the first YA of a qualifying company, please refer to the Tax Exemption Scheme for New Start-Up Companies.

    While the company may not be in a taxpaying position with the Tax Exemption Scheme for New Start-Up Companies, it is nonetheless still required to file the Form C-S/ C to IRAS to confirm eligibility and make a claim for this tax exemption scheme by the filing due date.

  • Should I file my company’s Income Tax Return using Form C-S or Form C?

    Form C-S is a simplified three-page income tax return form for companies to report their income to IRAS. Companies filing Form C-S do not need to submit their financial statements and tax computation to IRAS but should still prepare them for submission to IRAS upon request.

    The Form C-S qualifying conditions are as follows:

    Company: Does not claim any of the following: 

    - Is incorporated in Singapore

    - Carry-back of Current Year Capital Allowances/ Losses

      - Has an annual revenue* of $5 million or below

        - Group Relief

          - Derives only income taxable at 17% (i.e. company not enjoying tax incentives)

            - Investment Allowance

               

              - Foreign Tax Credit and Tax Deducted at Source

                 

                *For YA 2016 and before, the annual revenue threshold for filing Form C-S was $1 million.

                If your company does not meet the Form C-S qualifying conditions, please submit the Form C together with the financial statements, tax computation and supporting schedules to IRAS.

                For more information, please refer to Overview of Form C-S/ C.

                 

              • What are the documents that must be prepared and filed together with the Form C-S/ C?

                Please refer to Documents to Prepare when Filing Form C-S/ C for the types of documents that companies must prepare and/or file with IRAS.

              • What are the business records that my company must keep?

                Companies are required to keep proper records and accounts of business transactions. Your company must maintain proper records of its financial transactions and retain the source documents, accounting records and schedules, bank statements and any other records of transactions connected with your business for a period of five years from the relevant year of assessment. Please refer to Business Records That Companies Must Keep for more information on IRAS' record keeping requirements.

              • Do I need to engage a tax agent or consultant to prepare and submit my company’s income tax return (Form C-S/ C) to IRAS?

                It is a business decision whether you choose to engage professional help for your company's tax matters. Before deciding what works best for your company, you may wish to find out about the fees charged by the tax professional and their expertise in relation to the services that you need.

                For a better understanding of your company's tax filing obligations and to assist you in the submission of the Form C-S/ C to IRAS, you may also refer to our various service channels:

                - Access the New Company Start-Up kit to learn more about your corporate tax obligations.

                - Refer to Guidance on Completing Form C-S/ C and Additional Tips on Filing Form C-S/ C for step-by-step guides on filing of Form C-S/ C. 

                - Register for a free Corporate Tax Seminar conducted by IRAS. Subscribe to our e-Alerts to receive updates on IRAS seminars/ events.