Become a Singapore tax resident if you meet the following conditions:
- Singapore Citizen;
- Singapore permanent residents with a permanent address in Singapore;
- A foreigner who has lived or worked in Singapore for 183 days or more during the year of assessment with a wage income of less than S$20,000.
Singapore tax residents pay tax on their taxable income in accordance with the following resident tax rate table, and the taxable income to be calculated as tax residents is as follows:
1. Employment Income
- Compensation, Bonuses, Director Fees, Commissions and Others
- Exercising stock option gains
- pension
- Layoffs and Retirement Benefits
2. Income from trade, business, profession or occupation
- Income earned as self-employed or sole proprietor (commission broker, freelancer, taxi driver, hawker, etc.)
- Income from partnerships
- Income in the form of virtual currency
3. Income in the form of government grants
- PIC Bonus
- Special Employment Credit
- Payroll Credit Payment
- Employment Support Scheme
Note: These government grants (other than the Job Support Scheme) are taxable in the tax year when payments are received; for self-employed taxpayers, only the “Wage Increase Grant” is automatically included on the tax return.
4. Property or investment income
- Dividend
- Proceeds from the sale of properties, shares and financial instruments
5. Other sources
- Annuity (annual recurring payment)
- Fees (Alimony)
- estate/trust income
- National Award for Serviced Housing, Medicine and Education
- royalty
- Bonuses (Toto, 4D…)
- Withdrawal from Supplemental Retirement Scheme (SRS)
You will be classified as a non-resident tax under the following conditions：
- If you are a foreigner staying or working in Singapore for less than 183 days during the tax year, you are considered a non-resident for tax purposes.
As a non-resident, you will be taxed as follows:
1.If you are working here on a short-term basis for less than 60 days
- Your employment income is exempt, but this exemption does not apply if you are a company director, public entertainer or professional work in Singapore.
*Professionals include foreign experts, foreign stars, royal consultants, corporate consultants, trainers, coaches, etc., and the tax rate is 15% to 22%.
2. If you stay in Singapore for 61-182 days a year
You will be taxed on all income earned in Singapore, and your employment income is taxed at 15% or the progressive resident rate (see tax rate table above), whichever generates the higher tax.
The following income will be considered designated foreign income and can be exemption from Singapore Tax:
- Overseas dividends;
- Profits of foreign branches;
- Overseas service income.
These designated foreign income are no longer taxable on or after June 1, 2003. However, they must be received on or after 1 June 2003 to qualify for tax exemption under the FSIE scheme.
Foreign income is taxable in the following cases:
- Received through partnership in Singapore
- You must travel overseas as part of the job requirements, such as a regional sales manager employed by a Singapore company
- Employed overseas on behalf of the Singapore government
- Has trade/business in Singapore and is conducting trade/business overseas in relation to its Singapore trade
