Give Your Views On Changes To The Income Tax Act

1. The Ministry of Finance invites members of the public to give their comments on proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act (ITA).

2. This ITA consultation exercise stretches over one month from 9 June to 8 July 2006. It seeks feedback from all interested parties on areas of the draft legislation that require greater clarity or where compliance can be facilitated.

3. Some of the Budget 2006 tax changes to be legislated include the clarification on tax treatment for qualifying Islamic financial products, enhancements to the tax incentive scheme for foreign trusts and the introduction of a new Maritime Finance Incentive Scheme.

4. In addition to the tax changes announced in Budget 2006, the amendments also provide for other changes or refinements to existing tax policies and administration. This includes the reduction in personal income tax rates, the tax treatment of mutual concerns that are formed as companies limited by guarantee and the revised tax treatment of life insurance companies following the implementation of the Risk Based Capital framework.

5. The consultation papers, draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 and accompanying documents are available at the government's central consultation portal as well at the Ministry of Finance's website. Respondents may send their comments to the Ministry of Finance directly from the website, or separately via email, fax or post.

6. The draft Bill is targeted to be tabled for the First Reading in Parliament in November 2006. To facilitate the timely enactment of the legislation, the Ministry would not be able to consider comments submitted after the deadline of 8 July 2006.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE