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Public Consultation on draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2004

31 May 2004

For the second year running, the Ministry of Finance is inviting members of the public to give their comments on the annual amendments to the Income Tax Act (ITA). This will be the first of a series of public consultations on the various tax legislative changes planned for the year.

2. This ITA consultation exercise, which lasts from 1 June 2004 to 30 June 2004, seeks feedback on areas of the draft legislation that require greater clarity or would make compliance difficult. The Ministry welcomes all interested parties to be a part of this process.

3. Some of the Budget 2004 tax changes to be legislated include the introduction of a tax exemption for new companies, foreign-sourced income exemption for individuals and exemption of Singapore-sourced investment income for individuals.

4. In addition to tax changes announced in Budget 2004, the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2004 also includes changes to existing tax policies and administration, which resulted from on-going review of the income tax system. An example of such changes is the introduction of functional currency tax reporting.

5. The consultation paper, draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2004 and accompanying documents will be available at MOF's website, from 1 June 2004. Respondents may send their comments to MOF in the prescribed template, via email, fax or post. Members of the public can also access the documents through the Feedback Unit common consultation portal for all ongoing government consultations at http://www.feedback.gov.sg.

6. The draft Bill will be tabled for its First Reading in Parliament in September 2004. To facilitate the timely enactment of the legislation, the Ministry would not be able to consider comments submitted after the deadline of 30 June 2004.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE