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 The Ministry of Finance is conducting a public consultation on the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2013 from 17 June to 7 July 2013, and invites the Public to give feedback on the Bill.

Proposed Amendments

2. The proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) mainly relate to the changes announced in the 2013 Budget Statement. The key changes include the following:

a) Granting Corporate Tax Rebate at 30% of tax payable capped at $30,000 per Year of Assessment (“YA”) for YAs 2013 to 2015. This will help companies cope with cost pressures while the economy restructures;

b)    Provision of a Productivity and Innovation Credit (“PIC”) Bonus up to $15,000 over 3 YAs (YAs 2013 to 2015). This will defray rising business operating costs, especially for SMEs, and encourage them to invest in productivity improvements and innovation;

c)    Enhancement to the PIC Scheme by liberalising the scope of automation equipment eligible for PIC and by extending PIC beyond IP acquisition to IP in-licensing; and

d)    Granting Personal Income Tax rebate for YA 2013 for resident-individual taxpayers. The rebate is 30% of tax payable, capped at $1,500 for taxpayers below 60 years old, and 50% of tax payable, capped at $1,500 for those aged 60 years and above.

3. The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2013 also provides for refinements to existing tax policies and tax administration arising from on-going reviews of our income tax system. These refinements include nine technical changes and the following three changes:

a) Lifting current restrictions on deductions/capital allowances for foreign-hired and foreign-owned cars: The existing cap of $35,000 for tax deduction/capital allowance on costs incurred for cars registered outside Singapore and used exclusively outside Singapore will be lifted;

b) Simplifying capping rule on tax deduction and tax exemption for third-party voluntary contributions (“VC”) made to an Employee or Self-Employed Person (“SEP”)’s Medisave Account: This will facilitate employers to make VCs to their employees’ Medisave, and for eligible companies to do likewise for SEPs whom they work with; and

c) Allowing taxpayers in a non-taxable position to apply to Comptroller to amend tax assessments to correct for their own error. Currently, only taxpayers in a taxable position can apply to the Comptroller to amend their tax assessment when their tax assessment is excessive due to their own error.

Consultation Details

4.  The public can access the detailed consultation documents for the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2013 on the Ministry of Finance's website (www.mof.gov.sg) and the REACH consultation portal (www.reach.gov.sg). Respondents may send their comments to the Ministry of Finance directly via the website, email, fax or post.    

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
17 JUNE 2013