Tax treatment of PW income

For income tax purposes, your income derived from the platform work is considered as your trade/ business income. 

Income from platform work is taxable in the PW’s name. The PW who receives this income has to report the income in his/ her Individual Income Tax Return (Form B/ B1).

The PW income is added to your other sources of personal income. The total amount is then subject to Individual Income Tax rates.

Filing and record keeping obligations of a PW

Filing obligations

As a PW, your filing obligations are similar to a SEP. You are required to submit an Income Tax Return between 1 Mar and 18 Apr if you meet any of these criteria:

  • You have received a notification to file or a paper tax return from IRAS; or
  • Your total annual income in the preceding year is more than $22,000; or
  • Your total net trade income as a PW, self-employed person and/or partner in the preceding year exceeds $6,000.

Keeping proper records and accounts

PWs are required to keep full and accurate records and accounts of all income and expenses throughout the year and retain them for at least 5 years.

You must be able to support your records and accounts with invoices, receipts, vouchers and other supporting documents when IRAS request for it.

If your business’ annual revenue is $500,000 or below, and you are not claiming carry-back relief, foreign tax credit, or tax deducted at source, download our Record Keeping Assistant (XLSX, 549KB) to help you to keep and organise your business records for tax preparation.

DOWNLOAD RECORD KEEPING ASSISTANT

For details, please refer to Keeping proper records and accounts.

You are still required to keep proper records even if you opt for the Fixed Expense Deduction Ratio (FEDR). For more details on FEDR, please refer to Fixed Expense Deduction Ratio (FEDR) for self-employed persons and platform workers, under “Delivery workers” and “Private hire car (PHC)/ taxi drivers”.

Reporting income for PWs

Mode of filingWhen can I file?How can I file my income from platform work?

e-Filing

1 Mar to 18 Apr

  1. At myTax Portal, select 'Personal Tax' and log in using your Singpass or Singpass Foreign User Account (SFA).
  2. Select “Individuals” > “File Income Tax Return”.
  3. For pre-filled PW income
    If your platform operator (PO) is submitting your income information to IRAS1, you can view your pre-filled income information in the “File Income Tax Return” page. You are required to:
    • verify the pre-filled income information; and
    • clarify with your PO on the correct amount2 and amend the prefilled “Revenue” figure accordingly if the pre-filled PW income is different from your own records.

      • 1 This is currently only applicable to private-hire car (PHC drivers who have opted with their PHC operators (i.e. Grab, GoJek, TADA and Ryde) to have their driving income pre-filled into the Income Tax Return.

      2 Your PO should also submit your amended driving income, which will take approximately 5 working days to reflect in your tax return.

      For more information, please refer to Pre-filling of income for self-employed persons and platform workers.

  4. For non-pre-filled PW income
    If your PW income is not pre-filled, declare your PW income as “Sole-proprietorship/ Self-Employment Income” under “2. Trade, Business, Profession or Vocation” section of the Income Tax Return.
    1. Select the following option under “Nature of Business”:
      • “DELIVERY RIDERS/ WORKERS/ SERVICES (e.g. FOOD, PARCELS, PETS)”; or
      • “TAXI/ PRIVATE-HIRE CAR DRIVER”.
    2. Report the PW income in the 2-line/ 4-line statement

      For revenue $200,000 or less
      Complete 2-line statement:
      (1) Revenue
      (2) Adjusted Profit/ Loss

      For revenue more than $200,000
      Complete 4-line statement:
      (1) Revenue
      (2) Gross Profit/ Loss
      (3) Allowable Deductions
      (4) Adjusted Profit/ Loss
  5. If you have another type of income as a self-employed person and not as a PW (e.g. private tutor, fitness instructor, insurance agent, social media influencer), declare this other self-employment income separately by clicking the “ADD NEW” button to create a new entry under “Sole-Proprietorship/ Self-Employment Income” and select the correct “Nature of Business” that best describe your other type of self-employment income.
  6. Declare your other sources of taxable income (e.g. rental, royalty, estate/ trust income) in the relevant sections of your Income Tax Return, if any.
For more information, please refer to the step-by-step e-Filing guide at go.gov.sg/efilingguide.

Paper filing

1 Mar to 18 Apr

How you complete your paper Income Tax Return depends on the types of form you are receiving. If you receive a:

Form B

  1. Under “Trade, Business, Profession or Vocation” > “Sole-Proprietorship/ Self-Employed Income 1”
    • Under “Nature of Business”, indicate only
      • “Delivery Riders/ Workers/ Services” or
      • “Taxi/ Private Hire Car Driver”.
    • Report your PW income in the 2-line/ 4-line statement.

      For revenue $200,000 or less
      Complete 2-line statement:
      (1) Revenue
      (2) Adjusted Profit/ Loss

      For revenue more than $200,000
      Complete 4-line statement:
      (1) Revenue
      (2) Gross Profit/ Loss
      (3) Allowable Deductions
      (4) Adjusted Profit/ Loss
  2. If you have other types of self-employment income (e.g. baby-sitter, commission agent, hawker), please complete “Sole-Proprietorship/ Self-Employed Income 2 and 3” and indicate the relevant “Nature of Business” for this other self-employment income accordingly in Appendix 1.
  3. Declare your other sources of taxable income (e.g. rental, royalty, estate/trust income) in the relevant sections of your Income Tax Return, if any.

 

Form B1

  1. Report your income from platform work under “Section A” > “3. Other Income”.
  2. Provide details of the income from platform work in “Appendix 1” > “1. Trade, Business, Profession or Vocation”.
  3. Indicate only “Delivery Riders/ Workers/ Services” or “Taxi/ Private Hire Car Driver” under “Nature of Business”.

 

Once you have completed the paper Form B/ B1, mail it to IRAS at the following address:

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
55 Newton Road
Revenue House
Singapore 307987

You should mail your paper tax form ahead of the filing due date of 18 Apr to take into account mailing and processing time.

Even though you may have received a paper form from IRAS, you are highly encouraged to e-File your Income Tax Return via myTax Portal with your Singpass from 1 Mar to 18 Apr to enjoy the following benefits of e-Filing:

  • Simplify tax filing and minimise errors as some tax information will be pre-filled in your electronic tax return;
  • Ease of uploading supporting documents (if any) using the attachment features; and
  • For eligible taxpayers, receive immediate tax bill upon successful e-Filing.
Whether you e-File or paper file your tax return, you may have some questions about mistakes to be avoided. Learn more about the common filing mistakes and how to report income that was not previously reported.

Declaring PW expenses and deductions

You can claim allowable business expenses against your PW income to reduce the amount of tax you have to pay. You can include these allowable expenses in the “Adjusted Profit/ Loss” (i.e. Revenue less Allowable Business Expenses) or “Allowable Business Expenses” when declaring the 2-line/ 4-line statement in your Income Tax Return.

For more information on the allowable business expenses, please refer to Business expenses and deductions.

Instead of claiming tax deductions based on the actual amount of allowable business expenses incurred, PWs can enjoy a simplified tax filing experience by claiming a deemed amount of business expenses based on a prescribed percentage of the gross income earned. For more information, including how to claim it during tax filing, please refer to Fixed Expense Deduction Ratio (FEDR) for self-employed persons and platform workers, under “Delivery workers” and “Private hire car (PHC)/ taxi drivers”.

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