Singapore Companies Filing Requirements

January 30, 2021
|In Taxes and Accounting, Compliance
|By Kevin Yeo

Every year, companies in Singapore need to file with two main governing bodies, namely the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). The Singapore companies filing requirements consist of three components.

Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI)

Companies are required to file the ECI or estimated taxable income within three months after the company’s financial year-end. This income is calculated as the gross amount before any deductions under the tax exemption scheme for new companies and partial tax exemption schemes.

IRAS has implemented an ECI waiver if a company fits either criterion, to help companies reduce compliance costs:

  1. The company’s annual revenue is below Singapore Dollars (SGD) $5 million of the financial year
  2. The company has zero ECI

Starting from YA 2020, all companies must e-file their ECI regardless of revenue.
You need to provide the following information for e-filing:

  1. The company’s tax reference number, also known as UEN or business registration number.
  2. The company authorised you as an ‘Approver’ for Corporate Tax (Filing and Applications) in CorpPass
  3. CorpPass ID and password

As announced in Budget 2020 on 18 February 2020, companies that file their ECI on time and already paying their taxes through GIRO will automatically qualify for two additional months of interest-free instalment. The ECI must be filed as follows:

  1. during the period from 19 February 2020 to 31 December 2020 (both dates inclusive); or
  2. before 19 February 2020 and the company has an ongoing instalment payment to be made in March 2020

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 previous AGM.

During AGM, executives from the company will present the company’s financial statements to shareholders, for them to get the latest update and understand the company’s financial position. For more information on how to hold an AGM for your company, click here.

All companies must prepare their financial statements according to the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS), and include the following:

  1. Director’s Statement
  2. Statement of Financial Position
  3. Comprehensive Income Statement
  4. Statement of Changes in Equity
  5. Cash Flow Statement
  6. Notes to the Financial Statement

Companies that fit the criteria of a small company do not need to audit their financial statements. The penalty is an SGD $300 fine for failure to comply with Section 175 of the Companies Act.
Additionally, companies must file their Annual Return with ACRA no later than 30 days from the date of AGM under Section 197. The penalty for non-compliance with this Section will result in an SGD $300 fine.

Income Tax Return

Every year, IRAS will send either a Form C-S or Form C e-filing notification letter by the month of May.  The due date for e-filings is by 15 December for YA 2020, and 30 November for YA 2021 onwards.
Form C-S is a simplified version, with fewer fields to fill as compared to Form C. Companies will be qualified to file using Form C-S if they meet the following criteria:

  1. Incorporated in Singapore
  2. Annual revenue of below $5 million
  3. Derives income taxable at the prevailing corporate tax rate of 17%
  4. 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 obviously file Form C. You need to submit the following documents together with Form C:

  1. Your company’s financial statements
  2. Tax computation
  3. Supporting schedules

In addition to enhancing the e-filing experience for small companies, if they qualify for Form C-S, and have annual revenue of SGD $200,000 or below, they have the added option of filing Form C-S (Lite). It is a simplified version of Form C-S with only six essential fields to fill out. This is more for companies with straightforward tax matters.

If you need help on your Singapore companies filing requirements, you can contact us here.

 

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