The large majority of taxpayers e-file their tax returns by the due date of 18 Apr each year. You (or in the case of a partnership, the precedent partner) will be imposed with a composition amount or face recovery actions if you do not file your Individual Income Tax Return on time.
On this page:
Consequences for late or non-filing of tax returns
It is an offence to not file your Income Tax Return by the due date.
IRAS may take the following recovery actions if you fail to file by the due date:
- Issue an estimated Notice of Assessment. You must pay the estimated tax within 1 month
- Offer to compound the offence
- Issue a Notice to Attend Court/ Summons
If you get a letter, form or SMS from IRAS informing you to file an Income Tax Return, you must do so. It does not matter how much you earned in the previous year or if your employer is participating in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) for Employment Income.
You can check if you need to file an Income Tax Return if you have not received any notification from IRAS.
Estimated Notice of Assessment
IRAS may issue an estimated Notice of Assessment based on your income from past years or any other information. IRAS may assume an increase in income when estimating your tax.
If you receive an estimated Notice of Assessment, you need to:- Pay the estimated tax within 1 month from the date of the Notice of Assessment
You must pay the estimated tax even if you intend to object to the assessment or are awaiting the outcome of your objection. There will be penalties for late payment. - File your Income Tax Return immediately
You must file your Income Tax Return and/or documents such as the certified Statement of Accounts immediately for IRAS to review the estimated tax assessment raised. Excess tax paid will be refunded.
Offer of composition
Instead of taking prosecution actions, IRAS may allow you (or in the case of a partnership, the precedent partner) to pay a composition amount.
The composition amount can be up to $5,000 per offence, depending on your past compliance records. A notice will be sent to inform you of the composition amount. You must pay the composition amount and file the overdue tax return and documents by the due date to avoid prosecution.
Paying the composition amount
Quote the payment reference number / payment slip number (for partnerships) when paying the composition amount using the preferred payment modes. GIRO payment is not allowed.
The payment will be processed after 3 working days. You can check if your payment has been credited by logging in to mytax.iras.gov.sg and selecting "View Account Summary".
If you do not file your outstanding tax return and documents after paying the composition amount, legal actions may still be taken against you. The payment made will be used to settle any unpaid tax.
Appealing for waiver of composition amount
Appeals may be made online via our Appeal Penalty Waiver digital service at mytax.iras.gov.sg.
You will need the following information to complete the appeal for waiver of composition amount request online:
- Year of Assessment
- Contact number
This digital service will take about 3-5 minutes to complete and the outcome of your request will be displayed instantaneously. For more information on how to use this digital service, please refer to the user guide (PDF, 2.38 MB).
Appeals will only be considered if:
- You have submitted the outstanding tax returns and/or documents before the due date stated in the offer of composition*; and
- You have filed on time for the past 2 years.
*Filing (including certified statement of accounts where applicable) must be reflected in your tax account.
Notice to Attend Court/ Summons
A Notice to Attend Court/ Summons may be issued to you (or in the case of a partnership, the precedent partner) to attend Court on a specified date if IRAS does not receive:
- The required tax return and/or documents by the due date
- Payment of the composition amount by the due date
If you do not wish to attend Court, you must do all of the following actions at least 1 week before the specified date indicated in the summons:
- File the outstanding tax return and/or documents
- Pay the composition amount (Quote the payment slip number)
Postponement of Court hearing
If you need more time to file and/or pay the composition amount, you must attend Court on the specified date indicated in the Notice to Attend Court/ Summons to appeal for a postponement.
Attending Court
If you do not attend Court, legal actions may be taken against you. This could include a warrant of arrest issued.
In Court, if convicted of the offence, you may face a fine of up to $5,000 for each offence.
You still need to file the outstanding Income Tax Return and/or documents. Otherwise, further legal actions may be taken.
Failure to file your tax returns for 2 or more years
If you fail to file your tax returns for 2 years or more, you may be issued with a Notice to Attend Court/ Summons. On conviction in Court, for each offence, you may be ordered to pay:
- A penalty that is twice the amount of tax assessed; and
- A fine of up to $5,000.
If you fail to pay the penalty or fine to the Court, you may be imprisoned for up to 6 months.
Filing outstanding tax returns
For current Year of Assessment
e-File your outstanding Income Tax Return via mytax.iras.gov.sg.
If the online tax return is not available, please chat with us or call 1800-356 8300 (+65 6356 8300) to obtain paper forms via post.
For previous Year(s) of Assessment
Please chat with us or call 1800-356 8300 (+65 6356 8300) to obtain paper forms via post.
FAQs
I received a notification informing me to file my tax return for the Year of Assessment (YA). However, I did not work last year. Do I need to file my tax return?
Although you did not earn any income last year, you are still required to submit your Income Tax Return if you receive a letter, form or an SMS from IRAS informing you to do so.
My employer has sent my employment income details to IRAS. Do I still have to file my tax return?
Although your employer has sent your employment income details to IRAS, you are still required to file your Income Tax Return unless you have received our notification letter or SMS that you are on the No-Filing Service (NFS).
If you received the NFS letter or SMS, you do not need to file an Income Tax Return.
I received the notification to file my Income Tax Return after the filing due date of 18 Apr. When is the due date for filing this return?
If you receive a notification to file your annual Income Tax Return after the filing deadline, you are required to file before the due date stated in the notification.
Can I request for an extension to file my overdue tax return?
For current Year of Assessment
Request for an extension of time to file your overdue tax return may be made online via our Apply Extension of Time to File digital service at myTax Portal.
This digital service will take about 3-5 minutes to complete and the outcome of your request will be displayed instantaneously. For more information on how to use this digital service, please refer to the user guide (PDF, 1.12 MB).
However, an extension of time to file your overdue tax return is not allowed if a Notice to Attend Court/ Summons has been issued to you. You must attend Court on the specified date indicated in the Notice to Attend Court/ Summons and appeal for an extension of time.
Failure to attend Court may result in further legal actions.
For previous Year(s) of Assessment
No filing extensions will be granted as the returns are long overdue.