Anyone who resides or performs duties in Singapore for 183 days or more becomes a resident of Singapore. Residents are required to pay income tax on income that is sourced from or arises in Singapore, as well as on foreign income that is remitted to Singapore.
The scope of personal income tax includes employment income, business income, dividends, interest, pensions, rental income, royalties, insurance compensation income, property income, and more. Exempt income includes pensions, bereavement payments, and gifts between individuals.
Singapore has measures in place to avoid double taxation on dividend income. When a company receives dividends from another company, if the distributing company has already paid income tax on that portion of income, the dividends are not subject to further taxation; individual shareholders receiving dividends can deduct the corresponding tax burden from their personal income tax based on the tax paid by the company on those dividends.
Non-residents who are employed in Singapore for a total of no more than 60 days in a calendar year are exempt from tax on the income earned; if the total is between 61 days and 182 days, the income is taxed at a rate of 15%.
Independent operators' trade, business, professional, or occupational income is subject to a withholding tax of 27%. This also applies to dividends, royalties, and taxable profits.
