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The Ministry of Finance will be conducting a public consultation on the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012. The public consultation will run from 24 July 2012 to 13 August 2012.

Proposed Amendments

2. The proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act principally relate to the changes announced in the 2012 Budget Statement. The key changes include the:

- Provision of one-off SME cash grant capped at $5,000 to help companies offset higher business costs;

- Enhancement to the Productivity and Innovation Credit (“PIC”) Scheme to further encourage pervasive innovation and productivity efforts by providing more and faster cash upfront for investments and easing of some of the PIC qualifying conditions;

- Provision of certainty of non-taxation of gains on disposal of equity investments to facilitate corporate restructuring, minimise compliance costs and enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as a business location; and

- Enhancements to the Earned Income Relief of up to $8,000 and $12,000 for the elderly and handicapped persons respectively so as to encourage them to stay employed.

3. The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 also provides for refinements to existing tax policies and tax administration arising from on-going reviews of our income tax system. These refinements include the following:

- Alignment of tax treatment with the new accounting standards for small entities: small entities may opt to align the tax treatment with the small entities financial reporting standards to ease their compliance burden; and

- Enhancement to CPF Minimum Sum Topping-Up Scheme: Deduction will be allowed on cash top-ups made under Minimum Sum Topping-Up accounts of parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law.

Consultation Details

4.  The public can access the consultation documents together with the explanations for the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 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.