- Total tax collection amounted to $49.6 billion
- $28.2 billion of grants were disbursed to support jobs and businesses through COVID-19
- New digital services to simplify tax matters

In Financial Year (FY) 2020/21, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) collected a total of $49.6 billion in tax revenue, 7.3% lower than the collection in FY2019/2020. Tax arrears rate remained low at 0.72%. Current year arrears for Income Tax, GST and Property Tax fell to $323.8 million, from $357 million in FY2019/20.

Taxes collected are used to support Singapore’s economic and social programmes to achieve quality growth and an inclusive society.

Tax Revenue – Facts and Figures

IRAS’ collection of $49.6 billion in FY2020/21 represents 73.6% of the Government Operating Revenue and 10.6% of Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product.

Total Income Taxes (Corporate Income Tax, Individual Income Tax and Withholding Tax) made up 62% of IRAS’ collection in FY2020/21. Income Taxes collected in FY2020/21 totalled $30.5 billion, 0.9% lower than the $30.8 billion collected in FY2019/20. Corporate Income Tax collection was $16.1 billion, 3.7% lower than the amount collected in FY2019/20. Individual Income Tax collection increased by 3.0% to $12.8 billion.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection was down by 7.3%, from $11.2 billion to $10.3 billion.   

Property Tax collection was $3.1 billion, 34.3% lower than FY2019/20. Stamp Duty collection fell by 7.2% to $3.9 billion. 

Betting Taxes – comprising Betting Duty, Casino Tax and Private Lotteries Duty – totalled $1.7 billion, 34.3% lower than FY2019/20.

The total tax collection of $49.6 billion is 7.3% lower than the previous FY, due to dampened business activities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. The fall in collections for corporate income and property taxes were mainly due to the implementation of support measures for businesses such as tax rebates. In addition, GST, Stamp Duty and Betting Taxes collections were lower on account of weaker economic conditions and circuit breaker measures put in place during the year.

Supporting Businesses and Individuals During COVID-19

In the Year of Assessment (YA) 2020, IRAS provided corporate and property tax rebates, extension of tax filing deadlines, deferment of income tax payments and instalment payments to ease cashflow for taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since last year, IRAS has also stepped up to its new role as the Centre of Excellence for disbursing national grants to enterprises – the Wage Credit Scheme, Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), Government Cash Grant and Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI). In FY2020/21, IRAS disbursed a total of $28.2 billion of grants to support jobs and businesses through the pandemic.

New Digital Initiatives to Simplify Tax Matters

To serve taxpayers better, IRAS has continued to ramp up its digitalisation efforts through harnessing technology and innovation. In FY2020/21, IRAS introduced several digital initiatives to make tax filing and payment more seamless and convenient. Some examples include a consolidated property tax bill for taxpayers with multiple properties, GST registration alerts from accounting software and a simplified Corporate Income Tax return.

One Alert, One View, One Action for Property Taxpayers

In November 2020, IRAS piloted an initiative that enables taxpayers who own multiple properties to receive a single, consolidated notification via SMS/email when their digital bills are ready for viewing in myTax Portal. More than 50,000 corporate and individual taxpayers benefitted from this initiative in FY2020/21. The initiative also allows taxpayers to see an overview of their portfolio of properties and obtain a consolidated summary statement via the dashboard in myTax Portal. IRAS plans to make further enhancements to enable a consolidated payment of taxes for all properties owned by a taxpayer by FY2023/24.

GST Registration Alerts from Accounting Software

IRAS has worked with several software vendors to incorporate GST registration alerts into accounting software. Businesses that utilise accounting software with this feature will receive an alert when their total turnover at the end of a calendar year exceeds $1 million, prompting them to register for GST. The new feature will help to further ease tax compliance for businesses, on top of existing features such as filing reminders and disallowing expenses that are not claimable under the GST Act.

Simplified Corporate Income Tax Return: Form C-S (Lite)

Close to 49,000 companies filed the Form C-S (Lite) last year. Introduced in YA 2020, Form C-S (Lite) is a simplified income tax return that allows companies with straightforward tax matters to fill in only six essential fields, compared to 18 fields for Form C-S. These companies can thus enjoy a faster and easier filing experience. To qualify to e-File Form C-S (Lite), companies must meet the existing Form C-S qualifying conditions and have an annual revenue of $200,000 or below.

“The COVID-19 pandemic did not diminish our drive to provide excellent service and support to taxpayers. IRAS will continue to leverage data-driven insights, customer-centric service design and partnership with the community to deliver more seamless services to taxpayers. We also remain committed in supporting the Government’s efforts to help businesses affected by the pandemic and save jobs.” said Mr Ng Wai Choong, Commissioner of Inland Revenue/Chief Executive Officer.

For more information, please refer to the IRAS Annual Report FY2020/21 and tax statistics. The Annual Report is also available on Instagram (@irasannualreport_fy2020).

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore