Who Can Qualify
All businesses carrying out a trade or business in Singapore are eligible for BIPS when they send their employees* to volunteer and provide services at IPCs. These businesses are:
Companies, sole proprietorships, partnerships (including limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships) and registered business trusts; and
Bodies of persons, e.g. clubs and trade associations, that are deemed to be carrying on a business.
* Exclude owners of businesses i.e. sole-proprietors, partners and shareholders who are also directors of the company.
To encourage more corporate volunteerism, it was announced in Budget
2021 that the BIPS will be extended for another two years, until 31 Dec 2023.
Qualifying Expenditure
Qualifying expenditure includes:
- Basic wages
- Other related expenses incurred by the business that were necessary for the provision of services to IPC.
All qualifying expenditure must meet the following requirements
:
- Not reimbursed by the IPCs at anytime;
- Incurred only because of the volunteer services;
- Not considered as personal, living, or family expenses; and
- Not capital expenditure
For ease of claiming BIPS tax deduction, the following enhancements have been made. From 2 Dec 2019, businesses are allowed:
- Tax deduction on wage of part-time employees who volunteer with IPCs under BIPS; and
- An option for businesses to claim tax deduction on wage expenditure based on fixed hourly rates in lieu of actual salary: at $10 per hour for general volunteering and $20 per hour for skills-based volunteering. Skills-based volunteering refers to services which necessitate a qualifying employee to apply work-related expertise, as required by the IPC.
Businesses will in total receive a 250% tax deduction on the qualifying expenditure incurred, subject to the receiving IPC's agreement.
| Qualifying Expenditure | Tax Deduction Given |
|---|
| Currently deductible under Section 14(1) of the Income Tax Act | - 100% tax deduction under Section 14(1) of the Income Tax Act - Additional 150% tax deduction under Section 14ZB, subject to meeting the relevant conditions under BIPS |
| Currently not deductible under Section 14(1) of the Income Tax Act | - 250% tax deduction under Section 14ZB, subject to meeting the relevant conditions under BIPS |
Expenditure Cap
The qualifying expenditure is subject to a cap of $250,000 per business per Year of Assessment (YA). A qualifying expenditure cap of $50,000 is also imposed on each IPC per calendar year.
Company A (with a 31 Dec financial year end) sends its employees to provide volunteering services to IPC X and IPC Y during the year 2020. Assuming that the expenditures do not qualify for Section 14(1) deduction, the following table illustrates the application of the expenditure caps:
| IPC | Expenditure incurred | Qualifying expenditure for BIPS | Tax deduction granted |
|---|
| X# | $40,000 | $40,000 | $40,000 x 250% = $100,000 |
| Y# | $70,000 | $50,000* | $50,000 x 250% = $125,000 |
| | | $90,000^ | |
* The qualifying deduction is capped at $50,000 per IPC per calendar year.
# Due to the $50,000 cap imposed on each IPC per calendar year, no tax deduction under BIPS will be given to other businesses that provide volunteering services to IPC Y in 2020. A further tax deduction of $10,000 ($50,000-$40,000) under BIPS can be given on qualifying expenditure incurred by other businesses that provide volunteering services to IPC X for year 2020.
^ As the qualifying expenditure is capped at $250,000 per business per YA, Company A can claim another $160,000 ($250,000 - $90,000) in qualifying expenditure under BIPS in YA 2021.