Taxation Of Employment Income And Benefits

Generally, all gains and profits derived by an employee in respect of his employment are taxable, unless they are specifically exempt from income tax or are covered by an existing administrative concession. Thus before making any decision, we have to consider the different types of employee benefits as part of an employee’s compensation package. It is important to know how these benefits are taxed.

Some types of employee benefits are taxable to the employee, which decreases the incentive to offer the benefit as opposed to a slightly higher salary. Other employee benefits are not tax deductible for the business, which increases the cost of the benefit to the company.

The 1 Day workshop is helpful for both employee and employers. Objective is to help you understand the Singapore income tax rules relating to the taxation of employment income and also equip them with the knowledge of the different benefits package for their employees.

Learn from former IRA Senior Officer, Mr Nelson Tan of your obligation, understand the common pitfalls that you must avoid and how you can file correctly report without overpaying your tax obligation.

1. Basis of Taxation

2. Tax residency

• Qualitative and Quantitative test
• Administrative concession
• Exemption
• Tax rates and reliefs

3. Taxation of employment income

• Salary
• Bonus
• Cash allowance
• Relocation allowance
• Benefits-in-kind (substantial time will be focused on this)
• Employer’s contribution to overseas pension plan/provident funds
• Excess/Voluntary CPF contribution
• Stock options and shares
• “Deemed exercise” gains on stock options and shares
• Retrenchment/Lump sum payments

4. Employer’s & employee’s obligation

5. Special Schemes

• Not Ordinarily Resident Scheme
• Area Representative Scheme

6. IRAS enforcement actions

7. Penalties for negligence and evasion

This workshop is highly recommended for HR Personnel, Business Owners, Payroll/Accounts Executives, People Managers and anyone interested or has responsibilities in the area of Taxation, Compensation & Benefits.

Expatriates and Professionals on Executive package in Singapore seeking PR status in future will also benefit from this workshop

Nelson Tan is an Accredited Tax Advisor (Income Tax) & Practitioner (GST) with Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (SIATP), the accreditation body for Singapore tax professionals. He has valuable practical experience handling complex tax compliance and advisory issues especially tax investigation and audit issues during his 14 years of service with Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and Big Four Accounting Firms.

Nelson founded A Tax Advisor Pte Ltd in January 2014, and is also an Associate Lecturer with SIM University and frequently conducts seminars and customized workshops to share his knowledge and experience.