Employers, sign up for the Auto-Inclusion Scheme to enjoy four benefits 

Running a business is hard work. For small businesses, it can be even more daunting as business owners and employees often have to double or even triple hat different roles in sales, marketing and human resource to keep running costs down. To help businesses streamline their work, IRAS’ Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) simplifies tax filing and takes away the need for employers having to issue paper Form IR8A.

Under the AIS, employers can simply adopt a payroll software integrated with AIS Application Programming Interface (API) Service and send their employees’ employment income details directly to IRAS, or submit them online via myTax Portal on IRAS' website.

AIS is compulsory for employers who are already on the scheme in 2023 (even if the number of employees in 2024 has dropped to fewer than 5) or those with 5 or more employees – including full-timers, part-timers, company directors and board members, in 2024. Employers with fewer than 5 employees can also sign up for AIS – registration for AIS will start between 1 Apr 2025 and 31 Dec 2025 for the next Tax Season (Year of Assessment 2026). For this year’s Tax Season, about 120,000 employers will participate in the AIS – the highest number since IRAS started AIS. 

Find out about the benefits of AIS.

Benefit 1: Time-savings

Employers save time on issuing hard copy Form IR8A. With AIS, employers can send their employees’ employment income details directly to IRAS from their payroll software or submit it online via myTax Portal. With this, employees need not manually key in their income details when they file their tax returns.  More details on filing seamlessly from software can be found on the IRAS website.

Benefit 2: Accuracy

Certain features in some payroll software can improve the accuracy of AIS submissions, e.g., auto-computation of the amount of benefits-in-kind, allowing businesses to avoid filing errors. Employees will also benefit from employers’ AIS submission as it reduces the risk of errors made by employees during manual data entry in their tax returns. These can result in more accurate submissions by both employers and employees, reducing the risk of fines or penalties due to incorrect tax returns.

Benefit 3: Convenience

Employers and employees both enjoy convenience with AIS.

Employers can eliminate the need to prepare Form IR8A for their employees. They can simplify their AIS obligations by using payroll software integrated with the AIS API to transmit their employees' income directly to IRAS.

Additionally, employers can save time  and do away with manually keying in their employees’ income information if they register for the CPF Data Link-up Service. This service allows IRAS to retrieve the income details of employees who are required to contribute CPF from the CPF Board as it automatically populates their income details on IRAS’ portal for employers' verification and submission. For employers who have submitted their employees’ employment records online at IRAS’ portal, they can view these online records, up to two previous years from the year they joined AIS. 

With employers’ participation in AIS, their employees may be eligible for the No Filing Service (NFS) where the latter do not need to file an income tax return if the pre-filled income and relief information in their tax forms are in order.

Benefit 4: Eco-friendly

Sign up for AIS and hop on the sustainability bandwagon with IRAS. IRAS is committed to environmental sustainability and aims to embed sustainability in its core business. With AIS, employers eliminate hardcopy Form IR8A and do their bit for the environment.