Every year, companies in Singapore are required to file with two main government bodies, namely The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and IRAS (The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore).
The following entails the three filing requirements for a company to stay compliant.
Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI)
Companies are required to file the ECI, or estimated taxable income within three months from the company’s financial year end. This income is the gross amount before deducting amount exempt under the tax exemption scheme for new start-up companies and partial tax exemption scheme.
To help companies reduce compliance cost, IRAS has implemented an ECI waiver if a company fits the following criteria:
- Company’s annual revenue is below $5 million of the financial year
- Company has zero estimated chargeable income
Currently, companies can paper file or e-file their ECI. But under a new directive, all companies (regardless of revenue) must file ECI for YA2020 onwards.
For e-filing, the following information is required:
- Company’s tax reference number. This is also the company’s UEN or business registration number.
- Personal tax reference number
- Company’s e-Service Access Code. Individuals filing on the behalf of the company for the first time must apply for an e-Service Access Code. You can apply for an IRAS e-Service access code here.
- SingPass or IRAS PIN
E-filing must be done through an authorised individual via the e-Service Authorisation System (EASY). The individual must be “approved” to attend to tax matters on behalf of the company.
To encourage e-filing of ECI, companies filed online receive more instalments for tax payable.
Annual Return
Under Section 175 of the Companies Act, all companies are required to hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) within 18 months from its date of incorporation, with subsequent AGMs held in each calendar year, and not more than 15 months from the preceding AGM.
Companies will present the company’s financial statements to the shareholders during an AGM, for the purpose of helping them understand the company’s financial position.
All companies must prepare their financial statements according to the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS), and to include the following:
Director’s Statement
Statement of Financial Position
Statement of Comprehensive Income
Statement of Changes in Equity
Statement of Cash Flow
Notes to the Financial Statement
Companies that fit the criteria of small company are exempt from auditing financial statements. Failure to comply with this Section will result in a $300 fine.
Separately, under Section 197, companies must file their Annual Return with ACRA no longer than 30 days after the AGM. Failure to comply with this Section will also result in a $300 fine.
For more information on Annual Return filing, read Filing Annual Returns for Your Company.
Income Tax Return
All companies must file Form C-S or Form C to IRAS each year. All paper filings are due by 30 November, while the date due for e-filings is extended by 15 days to 15 December, to encourage electronic filing.
Compared to Form C, Form C-S is the simplified version, with fewer fields to fill. Companies qualified to file using Form C-S must meet the following criteria:
- Incorporated in Singapore
- Have an annual revenue of below $5 million
- Derives income taxable at the prevailing 17% corporate tax rate
- Is not already claiming Group Relief, Investment Allowance, Foreign tax Credit and Carry-back of Current Year Capital Allowances/Losses
Companies that do not qualify to file Form C-S must file Form C. For Form C filing, the following must be submitted:
- Financial statements
- Tax computation
- Supporting schedules
When in doubt, seek legal advice or consult an experienced ACRA Filing Agent.
Yours Sincerely,
The editorial team at Acra Filing Agent
For more useful articles and videos, visit the ACRA Filing Agent Useful Articles Page.
If you would like to submit a question or would like us to do an article on certain topics, please email us at [email protected]