Only 2 in 5 taxpayers need to file tax

SINGAPORE: The annual tax filing season starts Friday, but only two in five taxpayers need to do so.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) says more than 1.13 million, or nearly 60 per cent of the 1.92 million taxpayer base are eligible for the No—Filing Service (NFS).

First introduced in 2007 to 45,000 taxpayers, the NFS has grown in scale to benefit 25 times as many taxpayers this year.

Taxpayers who have been informed by IRAS of their eligibility for NFS this year will not need to file a tax return, unless they have additional income to declare or changes to make to their personal reliefs.

The remaining 40 per cent of taxpayers who are not on NFS would have received a letter or SMS notification informing them to file via

myTax.iras.gov.sg

by 18 April.

These taxpayers will have to file a tax return this year, even if their employers have sent their salary details to IRAS under the Auto—Inclusion of Employment Income Scheme.

In his 2013 Budget Speech, Deputy prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has announced that all individuals who are tax resident in Singapore will enjoy a personal income tax rebate for Year of Assessment (YA) 2013.

But they do not need to apply for the personal income tax rebate.

IRAS will automatically grant the rebate to all eligible taxpayers and reflect the amount in their tax bill.

The amount of personal income tax rebate will depend on the person’s age as at 31 December 2012 — those aged below 60 will get a tax rebate of 30 per cent while those aged 60 and above enjoy a tax rebate of 50 per cent — both capped at S$1,500.

— CNA/ck