Singapore Tax Help

Can anyone tell me in lay man's terms as to what is Singapore's taxation policy on world-wide income? I have referred to the IRAS website but its all jargon and seems confusing to me.

Cheers,
Kris

Hi Kris,

Here goes: Taxation on worldwide income for Singapore residents depends on the source of income.

Income is liable to Singapore tax if the source of the income is in Singapore. In other words, your income was accrued in or derived from Singapore, as a result of employment exercised in Singapore, even though your employer is a non resident/overseas company.

However, income sourced overseas is tax exempt. In other words, your income was derived from outside Singapore, as a result of employment exercised outside Singapore.

There are certain circumstances under which overseas income is taxable:

It is received in Singapore through partnerships in Singapore.
Your overseas employment is incidental to your Singapore employment. That is, as part of your work here, you need to travel overseas.
You are employed outside Singapore on behalf of Government of Singapore.

You need to declare the qualified taxable overseas income under 'employment income' and 'other income' (whichever applicable) in your tax form. 

If you're looking for more information refer to Singapore Personal Income Tax Guide.

For individuals, it is basically based on sources. If you are under employment pass, you are exercising employment in Singapore and income is sourced here.

For corporate, it is based on sources, remittance and residency here.

This is just the simple way of explaining the framework, do let me know if further info is required. Late but for this is meant to share insights.