On 8 June 2022, the Ministry of Finance (“MOF“) announced a public consultation on 23 proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act 1947 (“ITA“). The amendments are set out in the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill (“Draft Bill“), and comprise:
- Eight amendments to reflect tax measures announced in the 2022 Budget Statement, including:
- Enhancing the progressivity of personal income tax (“PIT“) of tax-resident individual taxpayers, and aligning the tax rates of non-tax-resident individual taxpayers to the revised top marginal PIT rate for tax-resident individuals.
- Facilitating the disclosure of company-related information for official duties.
- 15 amendments arising from the periodic review of Singapore’s tax system to revise existing policies, improve tax administration, and enhance the clarity of existing legislation, including:
- Providing expressly that the Comptroller of Income Tax (“Comptroller“) has the power to extend filing deadlines in the ITA.
- Amending the definition of “local employee” under section 37O of the ITA to recognise central hiring and secondment arrangements under the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Scheme.
- Streamlining provisions on the Board of Review (“BOR“) and adopting discretionary one-member coram approach for BOR hearings.
The consultation will run from 8 June 2022 to 6 July 2022. A summary of the main comments received and MOF’s responses to the same will be published in August 2022.
For more information, click here to read the full Legal Update.
