It is the tax season again! For some, its a dreaded yearly chore, not unlike spending a weekend with the in-laws. To help ease the pain, DollarsAndSense.sg has put together a comprehensive checklist to guide you through the process. Whether you’re a new taxpayer or someone who procrastinated filing their taxes, we hope you’ll find this guide useful. Let’s get cracking, shall we?
1) Who am I?
Before you take your wallet out to pay the tax man, let’s first look at whether you need to file your tax returns at all, merely acknowledge them, or file manually.
By law, all income earned in Singapore is subject to tax. This includes salaries (including part-time salaries), bonuses, pensions, investment income and business revenue. However, if your total income in the current year of assessment (January 1st to December 31st 2012) is less than $22,000, you do not need to file and pay taxes.
If you received a No-Filing Service notice (via letter/SMS), then congratulations, your returns have been filed automatically. If you have additional income to declare, or wish to claim additional reliefs, you need to login to myTaxPortal to add those details and file. Otherwise, just await and check your tax bill from IRAS and pay accordingly (if required).
Otherwise, you will need to login to myTaxPortal to file your taxes. If your employer participates in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS), then fields in your tax return relating to employment income will be pre-filled, but you will still need to fill in the rest of your tax returns.
2) When do I do this?
For the year of assessment of 2012, the deadline for filing taxes are as follows:
April 12th (for paper filing)
April 15th (for e-filing)
Do not procrastinate! Late filing (or non-filing) carry heavy penalties that range from increased tax dues to a court summon and even an arrest order. For convenience (of both yourself and the IRAS), we highly recommend you file your tax returns online.
3) How much tax do I need to pay?
Your tax rate varies based on your income level and income type. There are useful tools on the IRAS website such as a tax rate calculator and a glossary of tax-related terms. Do remember to look through the list of deductions and reliefs carefully so that you do not miss out on any ‘discounts’ on tax you are entitled to.
If you do make an error in your fax return, you should take appropriate remedial action as soon as you discover it.
4) What do I need to file my taxes?
- A SingPass login to access myTaxPortal
- Records for declaring taxable income
- Records for filing tax deductions and reliefs
5) Where do I go from here?
After filing your taxes (on time, hopefully!) you will receive a Notice of Assessment – a fancy way of saying ‘tax bill’! This can happen anywhere between April to September. Check and revert to IRAS if the tax amount is incorrect. If everything is in order, you can then proceed to make your payments to IRAS.
Do look through this list of common filing mistakes before you file so you don’t make any troublesome and costly mistakes! If you require further assistance, there are many avenues to seek help with filing your tax returns.
We hope you enjoyed this article. Do share it if you think it is useful! After all, sharing is caring!
Royalty-free photo from Getty Images. Used with appreciation.
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