As announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat, in the Resilience Budget on 26 March 2020, Solidarity Budget on 6 April 2020 and Fortitude Budget on 26 May 2020, IRAS will be implementing a series of support measures to ease cash flow for taxpayers.
Support for Businesses
Support for Companies
Automatic Deferment of Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Payments
All companies with CIT payments due in the months of April, May and June 2020 will be granted an automatic three-month deferment of these payments. The CIT payments that are deferred from April, May and June 2020 will be collected in July, August and September 2020 respectively.
Companies can expect to receive a letter from IRAS by April 2020. Those on GIRO and have ongoing CIT payments due in April, May and June 2020 can view their revised instalment plans at myTax Portal in early May 2020.
Companies that do not wish to enjoy the CIT payment deferment may:
If the company is | What should the company do? |
|---|---|
On GIRO | Write to [email protected] to inform IRAS to continue with the original GIRO deduction(s) in Apr, May and/ or Jun 2020. Please also provide the following details:
|
Not on GIRO | Proceed to make early payment for the corporate income tax. There is no need to write-in to inform IRAS of the early payment. |
For more information, please refer to Paying Corporate Income Taxes.
Support for Self-Employed
A. Automatic Deferment of GIRO Deductions for Self-Employed Individuals
Your income tax payments due in May, June and July 2020 will be deferred automatically for three months to August, September and October 2020 respectively. This means that there will be no income tax payments in May, June and July 2020. No application is required.
B. Payment Extension for One-Time Payments
For one-time income tax payments due in May, June and July 2020, there will be a 3-month deferment to August, September and October 2020 respectively. For example, if the due date is initially 15 May 2020, the extended due date for payment will be 15 August 2020. No application is required.
Property Tax Measures
Non-residential properties will be granted property tax rebate for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. Commercial properties badly affected by COVID-19 like hotels, serviced apartments, tourist attractions, shops and restaurants will receive a 100% rebate. Other non-residential properties such as offices and industrial properties will get a 30% rebate on their property tax payable.
IRAS will send out the rebate notices by 31 May 2020. Property owners can expect to receive their refunds by 30 June 2020.
More information and FAQs can be found under Property Tax Reliefs.
Government cash grant (announced in Fortitude Budget)
The Government announced on 26 May 2020 as part of the Fortitude Budget, a Government cash grant to qualifying property owners that would support rental relief for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and specified Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) tenant-occupiers of prescribed properties.
The amendments to the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 (“Act”), as well as the related subsidiary legislation, COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Rental and Related Measures) Regulations 2020, which provide the Rental Relief Framework for SMEs and specified NPOs, have come into force on 31 July 2020.
From early August 2020, IRAS will issue a notice of cash grant and disburse the Government cash grant to qualifying property owners (i.e. eligible SME/NPO owner-occupiers and owners with eligible SME/NPO tenant-occupiers). The majority of owners should receive the notice by mid-August 2020. The notice of cash grant will inform property owners of the rental waivers they should provide to their tenants under the Rental Relief Framework. The Rental Relief Framework also generally applies to tenants/ sub-tenants of Government landlord.
Qualifying property owners, who are eligible SME/NPO owner-occupiers and/or who have eligible SME/NPO tenant-occupiers operating in the prescribed properties, will generally receive the Government cash grant of 0.8 * (Annual Value / 12) for qualifying commercial properties (e.g. shops) or 0.64 * (Annual Value / 12) for other non-residential properties (e.g. industrial/ office properties). Government cash grant will be pro-rated for properties where the occupiers (including owner(s) and/or tenant(s), as the case may be) comprise a mix of SMEs and non-SMEs. The amount of Government cash grant will be calculated based on the Annual Value (AV) of the property for Year 2020, determined by IRAS at 13 April 2020. There will be no revisions to the Government cash grant amount, even if there are subsequent changes to the AV for Year 2020 after 13 April 2020.
Please refer to Rental Relief Framework for SMEs for more information.
Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme (JSS)
The Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) was launched in Budget 2020 to help businesses retain their local employees during this period of uncertainty. The JSS provides employers with between 25% and 75% wage support for the first $4,600 gross monthly wage paid to each local employee (including shareholder-directors). Employers do not need to apply for the JSS. The cash grant will be computed based on CPF contribution data.
To support firms during the circuit breaker period, wage support for the months of Apr and May 2020 have been topped up to 75% for all firms, regardless of sector. Employers will receive three main JSS payouts in Apr, Jul and Oct 2020, with an additional payout in May 2020.
As announced in the Fortitude Budget, the JSS was extended by one month to cover wages paid in Aug 2020. The support for Aug 2020 wages will be paid out in Oct 2020.
To provide continued support for employers during the phased reopening post-circuit breaker, employers across all sectors will continue to receive 75% support for wages paid to local employees until they are allowed to resume operations, or until Aug 2020, whichever is earlier. Pro-ration will be applied if operations resume in the middle of the month.
The list of sectors deemed to be directly and severely affected by travel restrictions and/or safe distancing measures has also been updated. This change will also be applied retrospectively to previous payouts, and employers will receive a top-up on these previous payouts by Jul 2020. This is with the exception of the built environment sector, which will receive the higher base tier for Jun 2020 to Aug 2020 wages only.
Extension of JSS (as announced on 17 Aug 2020 in the Ministerial Statement on Continued Support for Workers and Jobs) New
To provide continued support for businesses and workers amidst the protracted economic downturn, the JSS will be extended by seven months to cover wages up to Mar 2021. The support levels will be tapered as the economy reopens and stabilises, and calibrated based on the projected recovery of the various sectors. Employers will receive between 10% and 50% JSS support for wages paid for Sep 2020 to Mar 2021. There will be exception to some Tier 3 sectors (e.g. Infocomm Media, Financial Services and Biomedical Sciences) which will receive 10% JSS support for Sep to Dec 2020 wages. Employers in the Built Environment sector will receive 50% JSS support for Sep and Oct 2020 wages and a reduced JSS support of 30% for Nov 2020 to Mar 2021 wages, in line with the phased and gradual resumption of construction activities.
Employers who are not allowed to resume on-site operations during phased re-opening will receive 50% JSS support during the period for which they are not allowed to resume operations, from September 2020 to March 2021.
More information and FAQs can be found under Jobs Support Scheme.
Support for Employees
Some taxpayers who have filed their Income Tax Returns for Year of Assessment (YA) 2020 would have received their electronic Notice of Assessment (i.e. eNOA or tax bill).
A. Apply to Defer Tax Payment (GIRO)
You may opt to defer your income tax payments due in May, June and July 2020 if you need help with your tax payments. If you are paying by GIRO, there will be no GIRO deduction in May, June and July 2020. Your income tax deduction will resume in August, September or October 2020 and the end-date of your instalment plan will be extended by 3 months. Your amount of income tax payable remains the same.
Once your request to defer the payment is approved, this arrangement supersedes any due date indicated on your eNOA or SMS.
Application for this deferment option ended on 31 July 2020.
B. Apply to Defer Tax Payment (Lump Sum Payment)
If you are making a lump sum payment, you may opt to defer your payment by three months. For instance, if your current payment due date is 5 May 2020, you may opt to pay in lump sum by 5 August 2020.
Application for this deferment option ended on 31 July 2020.
Taxpayers who need help with tax payments
If you are facing financial difficulties and need help with your tax payment as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, you can apply for a longer GIRO payment arrangement upon receipt of your eNOA. Taxpayers can access the ‘Apply for Payment Plan’ e-Service on myTax Portal to directly request for longer instalment payment arrangements. Please refer to Experiencing Difficulties in Paying Your Tax for more information.
Taxpayers who need other forms of help can approach IRAS and we will consider your requests on a case-by-case basis.