[Advice needed] Renouncing PR

[BBCWatcher]

It's tough to beat CPF right now. And Range Rovers were pretty terrible, weren't they?

By the way, please check to make sure you understand the Canadian tax implications, if any, associated with holding and/or withdrawing CPF funds.

[Strong Eagle]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of renouncing my PR status and go back to Canada due to my wife's and son's PR application were both rejected. We feel it's very tough for the family to live in Singapore with only 1 PR. The cost of living (accommodation, study, healthcare etc) of my wife and son, as foreigners under visit pass, are too high for me and we need to take back my CPF to start again in Canada.

I am a US citizen that has renounced Singapore PR and just received my letter of renunciation from ICA a few days ago. I offer the following to you.

What is your status in Canada? There is no need for you to renounce PR before leaving Singapore. In fact, I would recommend against it until you have the rest of your Singapore issues wrapped up. This ensures that you have the legal right to be in Singapore and conduct business, and it will prevent you from running afoul of regulations governing your SP (see more below).

I renounced my PR approximately 3 years after leaving Singapore. I did it through the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore in Washington, DC. You would do it through the closest embassy in Canada. The instructions for renunciation through the embassy can be found here.

http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overs ... ncepr.html

This is essentially the same instructions as found on other embassy websites, and it is my understanding that the process is the same at ICA locally... same documents, go make an appointment, go get the deal done.

The main difference will be time. You can probably do it at the ICA in a week... an hour to meet and present documents... a week for them to process and issue the letter. It took right at one month for me to receive my letter of renunciation, after sending in my request. This is because the documents that are submitted to the embassy are forwarded by diplomatic pouch to the ICA in Singapore. My letter of renunciation came directly from ICA in Singapore, with a copy to the Washington embassy.

I'll deal with the CPF refund process below at your CPF questions.

To have a clear view of renouncing PR, may I seek for your advice on the below matter:

1. I'm running my business in Singapore as Sole Proprietorship. Once I renounce PR, will the business also be cancelled automatically? What could I do to remain my business in Singapore after renouncing PR?

Your business will not be cancelled automatically. Here are the salient facts.

a) As long as you have PR, you can do all the necessary actions as the business owner. If you do not have PR, then you are a foreign owner and will need to engage an agent... aka... CPA to handle the work for you. You will want to retain some sort of mailing address in Singapore as well.

b) You must file a notice of cessation of business with Bizfile. To my knowledge, you do not have to post notices to creditors as you must do to close down a company but you will need to verify this.

c) If you are GST registered, you must contact IRAS with proof of cessation of business. You will also settle any GST taxes due at this time.

d) You must contact IRAS, again with proof of cessation of business, and you must file your final business income with IRAS at that time. I believe your tax return will still be filed on the normal date... or the date at which you give up PR.

If you wish to retain your business in Singapore, then you must appoint a normally resident manager for the business. Note also that your tax treatment for business profits will be different for you as a foreign owner. I won't get into that here but it will be more expensive.

2. Is there any chance for me to come back Singapore to work later, maybe under other types of pass like S-pass or EP?

My own sense is that there will be no issue. Here's how I see it. I'm an older white guy who got PR because I was bringing a technology business to Singapore in 2004. But, it seems that ICA is now much more focused on demographics... the right race, the right culture, the probability that I will integrate into society.

Technically, if I put my CPF back I could re-apply for PR. Realistically, with the new rules, whatever they are, I will never be approved for PR because I am the wrong flavor, the wrong nationality, and the wrong age.

You're sort of in the same boat. PR for your family was denied. That's a message. They'll probably be happy that you renounced and cleaned up their PR stats. And they'll probably be OK to let you back in on an EP should you apply... that's my sense... that's what I expect would happen for me.

3. In case my children who are in Singapore now under LTVP want to come back to Singapore to study or work later, is there any difficulty for them to get the study or work pass?

I doubt your decision will have any impact upon your children. They have no employment history and no NS obligations.

4. Is my CPF refund in full after deduction of any tax liability? How long will is refund process? What about my personal loans with Singapore banks, will it be deducted in the CPF refund?

Anybody experienced with renouncing PR kindly share your experience. Thanks.

Unless you are in some of the more complicated CPF investments, there is no tax payable in Singapore on the CPF returned to you. You can read about the details here... https://www.cpf.gov.sg/Members/schemes/ ... er-grounds

And you can see the form you need to fill out here... https://www.cpf.gov.sg/Assets/members/D ... _CPFLM.pdf

If you are going to take the funds into a local bank (and my suggestion is that you do that and avoid any issues with large size wire transfers to a foreign bank), then your account must be verified that it belongs to you. If you are local, this is easy... you go to the bank and get an officer to sign the form.

If you are not local, then you must submit a PAPER statement along with your application. I've been electronic for years... I had to pay Stan Chart ten dollars to get them to send me a paper statement that I send in with the CPF application.

Your loans with Singapore banks are completely separate from CPF. Unless there is specific language in your loan agreements, leaving Singapore will make no difference. I left with about $2,000 left on a personal note for hearing aids. I just gave them my new address in the USA and continued to make my monthly payments. I still have credit cards and they still wave my annual fee, even though I haven't used the cards in a couple of years.

[Strong Eagle]

A brief update: Received letters today from CPF, refunding the majority of my MediShield premiums. All done automatically. Clearly, systems integration between ICA, CPF, MoM, IRAS, ACRA are reaching increasingly sophisticated levels.