(June 28, 2015)

On June 26, 2015 the Singaporean Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that it is conducting a public consultation on the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2015. The Ministry of Finance is inviting interested parties to provide feedback on the Bill. The public consultation will run from June 26, 2015 to July 24, 2015.

According to the press release the proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) mainly relate to the changes announced in the 2015 Budget Statement. The key changes include a.o,:

·        Extend and enhance the Merger & Acquisition (“M&A”) scheme for five years till March 31, 2020

·        Introduce a new International Growth Scheme,

·        Enhance the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation scheme

·        Enhance progressivity of the personal income tax rate structure by increasing the marginal tax rates for resident individual taxpayers with chargeable income exceeding $160,000, and introducing a new 22% tax rate, with effect from YA 2017; and

·        Extend the 250% tax deduction for qualifying donations for three years from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018.

According to the press release the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2015 also provides for refinements to existing tax policies and tax administration arising from on-going reviews of Singapore’s income tax system. These refinements include 16 changes, such as to:

·        Exempt from tax the deemed withdrawals from Supplementary Retirement Scheme (“SRS”), of up to $400,000, upon death or on the ground of terminal illness.

·        Align the personal income tax rate for individual non-tax-residents to the new top marginal tax rate of individual tax residents of 22%.

For further information click here to be forwarded to the press release as available on the website of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

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