Singapore Expats

Hi I moved to singapore in Sep on long term basis thru my employer on EP. I heard that since i m here from sep-09 i will be considered as tax non-residents.and the tax rate will be 15%. but also came to know that I will be considered as tax residents if my employement is extending for three consecutive years for taxation. How true is that and if my employer gives the clearance that i will be employed till 2011 as per EP then do i have to pay tax for 2009. ( as tax resi or non-resi.)

gopalsawant wrote:Hi I moved to singapore in Sep on long term basis thru my employer on EP. I heard that since i m here from sep-09 i will be considered as tax non-residents.and the tax rate will be 15%. but also came to know that I will be considered as tax residents if my employement is extending for three consecutive years for taxation. How true is that and if my employer gives the clearance that i will be employed till 2011 as per EP then do i have to pay tax for 2009. ( as tax resi or non-resi.)

You will be a classified as a taxable resident after 183 days in Singapore, up until then you are a non-residential for tax purposes. I have no idea of the rates, but i was under the impression a non resident pays around 30%, like entertainers and DJ's that work short term contracts, though I am not a tax expert and do not really know about rates.

If you have worked less than 183 calendar days you will pay non resident tax at the rate of 20 percent.

Your number of days will bridge between tax years so if the next year you work more than 183 days, you can file to have your non resident tax filing be adjusted to resident tax rates.

why so many moving in singapore??

any clue why?

WovingPink wrote:why so many moving in singapore??

any clue why?

Because unlike North Korea, Singapore is welcoming foreigners and like every other developed country it has many people moving in and out of it every day.

May I ask what if my job requires a lot of travel out of singapore?
Does my time overseas (while still employed in Singapore) count towards those 183 days?

Thanks!!

Yes it does

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=8868

see "If you are here for at least 183 days straddling two years"

amarettoSour wrote:http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=8868

see "If you are here for at least 183 days straddling two years"

I think, if you will but read the thread, that you will find that SE has already answered that.

The only correction it that as the OP mentioned, the Non-resident tax rate is 15% and not 20%. It is easy to get the refund but you have to file on time and pay the tax first. Once you have passed the 183 days in the next year (and that should happen in any case by the end of April for purposes of getting back the taxes paid at non-resident rates. (If you have to wait later than April, then something is wrong as if you are here less than 60 days in the first year, you have no tax liability anyway. The non-resident rates are for those here over 60 days but not more than 183 days in the first year.

Thanks all for the reply.
The biggest question I have, is whether the 2 years concession rule means I have to be "grounded" for 183 consecutive days in singapore. (and what about vacations away from singapore?)

Given that a lot of business activities are happening outside of Singapore, I would expect a lot of expats are facing the same problem if they are working in a regional role.

If you are on an employment pass then no you don't have to be physically here as long as your employment pass is valid during your overseas trips.

Sorry to be bumping up an old post, but i wanted to make sure that I didn't owe anything for the year 2009.

I was only here from mid november 2009 (nov 19 to be exact) and since that's below 60 days and I didn't earn more than $22k within that period, did I owe anything this past April?

I also didn't receive any income tax form in the mail. i assumed that was because I didn't owe anything for 2009.

thanks =)

Because you will be taxed as a resident as your EP is ongoing, and you earned less than 22K you are clear. Just curious, but is your Employer on the Auto-inclusion scheme? Or don't you know.

yeah, my employer participates in auto-inclusion scheme. i remember getting an email about this some time in march and waited for my IRAS pin that never came.

reason why i'm asking right now is b/c i tendered my resignation yesterday and asked the HR to make sure if i owe anything this past year, and she said i do and she will be deducting it from my paycheck...