The much-awaited outcome of an appeal by a Singapore subsidiary of a Malaysian listed company was finally decided in its favor against IRAS. This case was about IRAS determining the Financing Arrangement that the Singapore subsidiary entered into as falling under Income Tax Act’s section 33 General Anti Avoidance Rule. The High Court disagreed with… Continue reading Singapore Subsidiary Wins $13.6m Case Against Taxman
From September 2012, the CPF contribution rates for older employees aged above 50 to 65 years has been increased. This is in line with the Singapore government’s objective to make sure its citizens have enough retirement savings to see them through the golden years. If you have older employees on your payroll, do make sure… Continue reading Change in CPF Contribution Rates from September 2012
All businesses operating in Singapore (yes, including sole proprietorships) are required to be registered compulsorily for GST if they meet the following conditions:- a) your taxable sales turnover for the past four quarters exceeded S$1 million or b) you reasonably expect the next 12 months’ taxable turnover to be more than S$1 million If your… Continue reading GST Registration
IRAS has recently introduced Form C-S, a new simplified tax return for small companies starting from the Year of Assessment 2012. Form C-S is actually a shortened 3-page Income Tax Return for small companies to report their income to IRAS. To be eligible, companies need to fulfill certain conditions such as having annual turnover not… Continue reading Simplified Tax Filing for Small Companies
As announced by the Finance Minister, the PIC scheme has been enhanced to provide more tax benefits to taxpayers. The objective of this enhancement is to encourage further productivity and innovative activities in Singapore. The following is the summary highlights of the enhanced scheme:- 1) Higher cash payout option conversion rate from 30% to 60%… Continue reading Enhanced PIC introduced in Budget 2012
A local promoter of shows and entertainment company was found guilty of under-declaring GST output tax of more than $500,000 recently. It was stated in the case that the company failed to check the accuracy of the GST Returns filed to IRAS made by its accounting and tax agent. This case highlights the important point… Continue reading Local promoter of shows and entertainment guilty of under declaring GST
From Year of Assessment 2012, employers with 20 or more employees or who received notice from IRAS are required to file employment income electronically. This IRAS scheme is called Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) for Employment Income. What this means to employers is that there will be no need to issue hard copies of Form IR8A anymore… Continue reading e-Submission of Employment Income
Acra has recently introduced its mobile application on iPhone called ‘Acra on the Go’. It is free and available now on Apple’s iPhone App Store. Services that are available are only Directory Search, offline calculation of the last possible date for the company’s next AGM, and FAQs.
Many businesses have benefited from this new scheme introduced in the recent Singapore Budget 2010. We have been helping our clients to claim very generous tax deductions, which is 400% of the cost incurred on qualifying activities or alternatively a cash payout of up to $30,000 per year. For small businesses, the relevant qualifying activity… Continue reading Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) Scheme
Another company and director were hauled up by IRAS on 29 July for creating fictitious invoices and false entries. The company – Republic Beverages Co Pte Ltd committed this fraud in order to claim GST refund claims. The director was sentenced to 4 months in jail and fines up to almost $200,000! Therefore, I always… Continue reading Company and Director charged in court for GST fraud