Market entry guide  ·  Singapore

Singapore Tax
Compliance

Every filing a Singapore private limited company owes IRAS, ACRA and CPF — and the two very different clocks those deadlines run on.

17%Flat corporate tax rate, before exemptions
30 NovCorporate tax return, whatever your year end
+3 monthsECI, counted from your financial year end
1 directorOrdinarily resident in Singapore, at all times

01 — How the calendar works

Singapore runs two clocks

Some deadlines are counted from your financial year end, so every company has a different due date. Others are fixed calendar dates that fall on the same day for everyone. Confusing the two is the most common way a Singapore filing gets missed.

Floating deadlines vs fixed dates

Example uses a 31 December financial year end.

→ Swipe to see both tracks

YOUR CLOCK — COUNTED FROM YOUR FINANCIAL YEAR END FYE +1+2+3 +4+5+6 +7+8 ECI TO IRAS AGM (IF HELD) ANNUAL RETURN With a 31 Dec year end: ECI by 31 Mar · AGM by 30 Jun · annual return by 31 JulSINGAPORE’S CLOCK — THE SAME DATE FOR EVERYONE JANFEBMAR APRMAYJUN JULAUGSEP OCTNOVDEC 1 MAR · AIS 18 APR · FORM B 30 NOV · FORM C
Floats with your year end Fixed calendar date Your financial year end

02 — Corporate income tax

Two filings, a year apart

Corporate tax comes in two stages: an early estimate within three months of your year end, then the real return by 30 November of the following Year of Assessment.

Estimated Chargeable Income

Floating

An early estimate of taxable income, prepared from management accounts — no audited figures needed. File it and IRAS can spread the tax over instalments; skip it and you lose that option.

Deadline
3 months after FYE
Example
31 Mar 2026 for a 31 Dec 2025 FYE
Waiver
Revenue ≤ S$5m and nil ECI
Both conditions, not either. S$4m revenue with S$20,000 ECI still files. S$10m revenue with nil ECI still files — you enter zero rather than skipping it.

The annual return to IRAS

30 November

Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite) or Form C, filed through myTax Portal for the Year of Assessment. Every company files — dormant, loss-making or profitable.

Deadline
30 November, fixed
Covers
The preceding financial year
Payment
Within 1 month of the NOA
Miss it and IRAS estimates for you. An estimated assessment is usually higher than the real liability, must be paid within a month, and you have to pay it even while objecting.

Rate and exemptions

17% flat

The headline rate is 17%, but effective rates are far lower for smaller companies. Partial Tax Exemption applies automatically; qualifying new companies can claim the Start-Up Tax Exemption for their first three YAs instead.

Headline
17%
Start-ups
75% on first S$100k, 50% on next S$100k
YA 2026
CIT Rebate of 50%, capped at S$40,000

Property and investment holding companies are excluded from the start-up scheme.

Which form you file

Revenue ≤ S$200,000Form C-S (Lite)6 fields

For companies that already qualify for Form C-S and have straightforward affairs. No financial statements or tax computation submitted — but you must prepare them and hand them over if IRAS asks.

Revenue ≤ S$5 millionForm C-S18 fields

A simplified declaration for companies taxed only at 17% and not claiming things like carry-back relief, group relief, investment allowance or foreign tax credits. Same document-retention rule as the Lite version.

Everyone elseForm CFull return

Revenue above S$5 million, or any company failing a Form C-S condition. Financial statements, tax computation and supporting schedules are all filed with the return.

03 — Goods and Services Tax

GST and the F5

GST is 9%. Registration becomes compulsory once taxable turnover passes S$1 million — but once you’re registered, the return is due every quarter regardless of how much you turn over.

When you must register

S$1 million

Compulsory registration is triggered by taxable turnover exceeding S$1 million over the past 12 months, or where you reasonably expect to exceed it in the next 12. Voluntary registration below the threshold is possible and often worthwhile if your customers are GST-registered.

Quarterly Form F5

Floating

Due one month after the end of each accounting period — so a quarter ending 31 December is filed by 31 January. Your quarters depend on the accounting period IRAS assigns you, not on the calendar.

Deadline
1 month after period end
Applies to
All GST-registered businesses
A nil return is still a return. The S$1 million figure is the registration threshold, not a filing threshold — once registered, you file every period even with no transactions.

04 — Individual income tax

Personal filing

Directors and employees file on Singapore’s clock, in April, for income earned in the preceding calendar year.

Form B / B1

18 April

E-filing closes 18 April; paper returns are due 15 April. Form B1 is for employment income, Form B for the self-employed and those with business income.

E-filing
18 April 2026
Paper
15 April 2026

Who has to file

Thresholds

Residents with total income above S$22,000, or net business income above S$6,000, in the preceding year.

Income
Above S$22,000
Business
Net above S$6,000

No-Filing Service

Pre-filled

Many taxpayers have their return pre-filled under NFS and don’t need to submit anything. It’s still worth checking the figures — reliefs and other income are yours to correct.

05 — As an employer

Payroll obligations

Two recurring duties once you have staff: report their income to IRAS each year, and pay CPF for locals every month.

Auto-Inclusion Scheme

1 March

Employers in AIS submit employment income and commission records directly to IRAS, which then pre-fills them into employees’ returns. Submission is due by 1 March for the preceding year.

Deadline
1 March 2026
Covers
Preceding calendar year
Late AIS blocks your staff. Employees can’t complete their own April filing until their records are in, so the March date has a knock-on effect beyond your own compliance.

CPF contributions

Monthly

CPF is payable for Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident employees. Contributions are due at the end of the month and must reach the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month, with late payment attracting interest.

Deadline
14th of following month
Applies to
Citizens and PRs

06 — Company officers and ACRA

The people you must appoint

Two appointments are structural rather than periodic — but both carry continuing obligations, and a vacancy is itself a breach.

Resident director

Continuous

At least one director must be ordinarily resident in Singapore — a Citizen, Permanent Resident, or Employment Pass or EntrePass holder with a local residential address. The requirement applies at incorporation and every day thereafter.

Minimum
1 resident director
Timing
From incorporation, continuously
Nominee directors are common, not cosmetic. Foreign-owned companies without a local principal usually engage one — but a nominee still carries real directors’ duties and personal liability, so the arrangement needs proper agreements behind it.

Company secretary

6 months

Appoint within six months of incorporation. The secretary must be a natural person ordinarily resident in Singapore, and cannot be the company’s sole director.

Appoint by
6 months from incorporation
Vacancy limit
6 months, Companies Act s.171
The seat can’t stay empty. Under s.171 the position must never be vacant for more than six months at a time — a resignation starts a new clock, it doesn’t pause the requirement.

AGM and annual return

Floating

A non-listed company holds its AGM within six months of financial year end and files the annual return with ACRA within seven months. Private companies may dispense with the AGM if financial statements go to all members within five months and no member asks for a meeting.

AGM
6 months after FYE
Annual return
7 months after FYE
If AGM held
Within 1 month of it, if earlier
Filing with IRAS doesn’t cover ACRA. They are separate regulators with separate deadlines, and late annual returns attract penalties of S$300, rising to S$600 beyond three months.

07 — Diary

Dates for a 31 December year end

Fixed dates apply to everyone. The floating ones below are worked out from a 31 December financial year end — recalculate them if yours differs.

FilingDeadline
Quarterly GST return, Form F5Quarter ending 31 Dec 202531 Jan 2026
AIS employee income recordsEmployers in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme1 Mar 2026 · fixed
Estimated Chargeable Income3 months after a 31 Dec 2025 FYE31 Mar 2026
Individual income tax, Form B / B1Paper returns 15 Apr18 Apr 2026 · fixed
AGM, if held6 months after FYE30 Jun 2026
Annual return to ACRA7 months after FYE31 Jul 2026
Corporate income tax returnForm C-S / C-S (Lite) / Form C, YA 202630 Nov 2026 · fixed
CPF contributionsEvery month you have local employees14th of following month

08 — Where this comes from

Sources and references

Each entry below names the section of this page it supports. Where a figure could not be tied to a primary source, that is stated rather than glossed over.

Base document

Singapore filing deadlines — internal research note, OnDemand International, July 2026. The filing list, deadlines and officer requirements on this page were drawn from that note.

Every figure was then checked against the primary sources below. One correction was made: the base note tied the quarterly GST return to businesses with turnover above S$1 million. That figure is the registration threshold — once registered, every business files each accounting period, including nil returns.

  1. § 01 · § 02 — ECI Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) Filing

    The three-month deadline from financial year end, the waiver conditions, the point that a company with nil ECI but revenue above S$5 million still files by entering zero, and the YA 2026 CIT Rebate of 50% capped at S$40,000.

  2. § 02 — Which form you file Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Overview of Form C-S / Form C-S (Lite) / Form C

    The S$5 million and S$200,000 revenue conditions, the 18-field versus 6-field distinction, the requirement to prepare financial statements even when they aren’t filed, and the rule that any company failing a Form C-S condition must file Form C.

  3. § 02 — Filing and waivers Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Taxbytes — Companies, Self-Employed, Partnerships

    Form C-S (Lite) eligibility, the waiver route for dormant companies and those applying to strike off, and the requirement to pay tax stated in the Notice of Assessment within one month.

  4. § 06 — AGM and annual return Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority AGM and annual return breaches — overview

    Section 175 of the Companies Act requiring the AGM within six months after financial year end for non-listed companies, section 197 requiring the annual return within seven months, and the section 175A criteria under which private companies may dispense with the AGM.

  5. § 06 — Officers Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority acra.gov.sg — company officers

    The resident director requirement and eligible categories, the six-month window to appoint a company secretary, the rule that the secretary cannot be the sole director, and the section 171 limit on how long the post may stay vacant. Taken from the base document and linked at domain level rather than to a specific page.

  6. § 03 · § 04 · § 05 — GST, personal tax, AIS Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore iras.gov.sg — general guidance

    The 9% GST rate and S$1 million registration threshold, Form F5 due one month after each accounting period, the 18 and 15 April personal filing dates, the S$22,000 and S$6,000 filing thresholds, the No-Filing Service, and the 1 March AIS submission date.

  7. § 05 — CPF Central Provident Fund Board cpf.gov.sg — employer contributions

    CPF liability for Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident employees, the 14th-of-the-following-month payment deadline, and interest charged on late contributions. Contribution rates vary by age and wage band — check the current rate tables before running payroll.

Primary sources checked 29 July 2026

Before you rely on these dates

Floating deadlines depend entirely on your own financial year end, and reliefs such as the CIT Rebate and start-up exemption are set year by year. Directors remain personally responsible for filings even where a tax agent or corporate secretary is engaged — confirm anything time-critical with IRAS, ACRA or a licensed filing agent.

Last reviewed July 2026.

Data sourced from iras.gov.sg acra.gov.sg cpf.gov.sg Singapore Companies Act 1967