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Singapore: Tax collection down by 7.3% to S$49.6b due to Covid-19: Iras
TAX collection in Singapore fell by 7.3 per cent in the last financial year to S$49.6 billion due to dampened business activities amid the pandemic, said the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) on Thursday.
The collection represents 73.6 per cent of the government’s operating revenue and 10.6 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product.
The fall in collections for corporate income and property taxes was mainly due to the implementation of support measures for businesses, such as tax rebates, said Iras.
Total income taxes – comprising corporate income tax, individual income tax and withholding tax – made up 62 per cent of the collection. Income taxes totalled S$30.5 billion, 0.9 per cent lower than the S$30.8 billion collected in the previous financial year. Corporate income tax collection was S$16.1 billion, a fall of 3.7 per cent. Individual income tax collection increased by 3 per cent to S$12.8 billion.
Meanwhile, GST, stamp duty and betting taxes collections were lower on account of weaker economic conditions and “circuit-breaker” measures put in place during the year, Iras said.
GST collection was down 7.3 per cent, from S$11.2 billion to S$10.3 billion. Property tax collection was S$3.1 billion, 34.3 per cent lower, while stamp duty collection dropped by 7.2 per cent to S$3.9 billion. Betting taxes, comprising betting duty, casino tax and private lotteries duty, amounted to S$1.7 billion, down 34.3 per cent.
Separately, tax arrears remained low at 0.72 per cent. Current-year arrears for income tax, GST and property tax fell to S$323.8 million, from S$357 million.
Meanwhile, the authority disbursed a total of S$28.2 billion of grants to support jobs and businesses as part of its new role as the Centre of Excellence for disbursing national grants to enterprises.
“The Covid-19 pandemic did not diminish our drive to provide excellent service and support to taxpayers. IRAS will continue to leverage data-driven insights, customer-centric service design and partnership with the community to deliver more seamless services to taxpayers. We also remain committed in supporting the government’s efforts to help businesses affected by the pandemic and save jobs,” said Ng Wai Choong, commissioner of inland revenue and chief executive officer of Iras.
Iras introduced several digital initiatives over the course of the period of the last financial year, including a consolidated property tax bill for taxpayers with multiple properties, GST registration alerts from accounting software, as well as a simplified corporate income tax return.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/tax-collection-down-by-73-to-s496b-due-to-covid-19-iras