Singapore companies increasingly use employee share options and share ownership plans to attract and retain key staff, especially in the startup and technology sectors where cash salaries alone cannot compete with regional or Silicon Valley offers. But the tax treatment of these schemes catches out both employers and employees more often than almost any other [...]
Singapore's position as a freight and shipping hub means many logistics operators handle almost exclusively international cargo, and it is tempting to assume that anything connected to an overseas shipment can simply be zero-rated. That assumption is where a great deal of GST exposure begins. Zero-rating for services is governed by a specific, technical provision [...]
CPF miscalculation, late payment and incomplete payslips are the most common payroll errors Singapore SMEs make. Here is what to check before the CPF Board does.
Most Singapore business owners know, in broad terms, that CPF is compulsory for employees. What trips many sole owner-directors up is that a director is not automatically an "employee" for CPF purposes at all. Whether CPF is compulsory, optional, or simply not applicable depends on how the director is paid and in what capacity, and [...]
From 1 April 2026, every beverage manufacturer, importer, supermarket and F&B outlet selling regulated bottled or canned drinks in Singapore has had to grapple with a new 10-cent line item: the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) deposit. The National Environment Agency (NEA) designed the scheme to lift Singapore's recycling rate and reduce packaging waste, but [...]
From 1 January 2027, Singapore employers will need to pay higher Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for employees aged above 55 to 65. The Central Provident Fund Board (CPF Board) has confirmed the new contribution rate table, and the changes apply automatically to wages earned from that date, regardless of when payroll is actually processed. [...]
A guide to personal tax filing for SME owner-directors: fees vs salary, IR8A, director loan traps, deadlines and penalties in Singapore.
A practical guide to XBRL filing in Singapore: Full vs Simplified vs FSH, ACRA's BizFinx taxonomy, tagging mistakes, fees, deadlines and rejections.
Learn what allowable business expenses under the Income Tax Act are, common disallowed claims, documentation IRAS expects, and how to avoid a query.
A share transfer sounds like paperwork. A founder buys out a co-founder. A family patriarch hands shares to his children. A start-up closes a funding round and issues new shares to an investor. The company secretary updates the register of members, ACRA is notified, stamp duty is paid, and everyone moves on. What most directors [...]