On 16 February 2024, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS“) (Amendment) Bill (“Bill“) was passed in Parliament to amend the IRAS Act (“Act“) to:
(a) In relation to broad-based grants under schemes specified in the new Second Schedule of the Act (“Scheduled public schemes“):
- empower IRAS to administer grants under the Scheduled public schemes;
- provide for the recovery of any wrongly given money, credit, rebate or grants under the Scheduled public schemes (collectively “wrongly given grants“);
- create offences for giving false or misleading information to obtain, or assist another person to obtain, wrongly given grants; and
(b) Provide IRAS and its authorised officers with various powers of investigation and enforcement and generally enhance the administration of the Act.
Grants under the Scheduled Public Schemes
The grants under the Scheduled public schemes are as follows:
(a) Appointment of IRAS as administrator. Under the new section 6(1)(ea), IRAS will be formally appointed as administrator of the Scheduled public schemes. Examples of such schemes include the wage credit scheme, Jobs Support Scheme, SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, foreign worker levy rebate, and the Small Business Recovery Grant.
(b) Recovery of wrongly given grants. Under the new ss 17B-17D, IRAS may recover an amount equal in value to the wrongly given grant (“claim amount“) as a debt due to the Government. Interest will be due on any outstanding amount after the end of the payment period. It should be noted that the claim amount may be recovered whether it was given before or after the date of commencement of the Bill.
(c) New offences for giving false or misleading information. Where a person, for the purposes of obtaining a public grant, either gives information that is false or misleading in any material particular to a “public agency” (as defined in the new section 17F(7)) or omits any material particular from a document given to a public agency, the Bill introduces three tiers of offences:
- for doing so (i.e. a strict liability offence) – the penalty will be equal to the grant given or that would have been given (see section 17F(1) and (2));
- for doing so without any reasonable excuse or negligently – the penalty will be equal to two times the grant given or that would have been given, with persons convicted liable to a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to three years (see section 17F(3) and (4)); and
- for doing so wilfully – the penalty will be equal to three times the grant given or that would have been given, with persons convicted liable to a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to three years (see section 17F(5) and (6)).
Other Amendments
The other amendments introduced in the Bill are as follows:
(a) Additional powers for IRAS. IRAS will be provided with information-gathering and enforcement powers for audit and investigation of offences relating to broad-based enterprise grants, including potential violations such as misrepresentation of information and fraud. Such powers include entering buildings and places, requesting for information and documents as well as carrying out investigations and examining witnesses. Any person who, without “reasonable excuse”, fails to comply with the request for documents and/or information, or interferes with authorised investigations, will be guilty of an offence and liable to pay fines and/or imprisonment terms (see sections 17G and 17H).
(b) Administrative amendments. These include granting IRAS the power to compound offences under the IRAS Act and protecting the identify of an informer of any offence under the new Part 5A from being disclosed. Additionally, it provides for the power for certain authorised persons to effect arrests.
Earlier Public Consultation
Prior to the First Reading, IRAS and the Ministry of Finance (“MOF“) held a public consultation on the draft Bill, as covered in our November 2023 NewsBytes here.
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