Working Remotely from Singapore as a Tax Resident - which pass/structure?

[malcontent]

That is really interesting and news to me. My current job is actually global and the people reporting to me are scattered around the globe (none in Singapore). My job can be done from anywhere in the world, and if I were to move outside Singapore, the job would move with me. In this case, it sounds like an EP is not even necessary for this job, I could be on a LTVP under my wife and continue working without even getting a LOC?

[PNGMK]

Don't worry about a response from me... you've got it all figured out.

Myasis Dragon,

Now I have got WRITTEN confirmation from MOM that as a foreigner working remotely from Singapore for a foreign employer, on the foreign employer's payroll, for foreign employer's clients I do not, REPEAT DO NOT need a Work Permit or even an exemption from a Work Permit. They said all I need to make sure is that I have a social visit pass issued or extended for my stay in Singapore by ICA

I am not interested in engaging in any conversation with you so dont bother to respond to my post. I wanted to post this for the benefit of other forum members who may be in similar circumstances and may have been mislead by the pure hearsay post submitted by you with apparent authority but clearly wrong advice.

Don - you're a douche. You come here for free advice and then abuse one of our more knowledgeable members who offered you advise with the clear caveat that should do your own research, I hope you miserably fail and end up broke and in prison.

[Myasis Dragon]

Don't worry about a response from me... you've got it all figured out.

Myasis Dragon,

Now I have got WRITTEN confirmation from MOM that as a foreigner working remotely from Singapore for a foreign employer, on the foreign employer's payroll, for foreign employer's clients I do not, REPEAT DO NOT need a Work Permit or even an exemption from a Work Permit. They said all I need to make sure is that I have a social visit pass issued or extended for my stay in Singapore by ICA

I am not interested in engaging in any conversation with you so dont bother to respond to my post. I wanted to post this for the benefit of other forum members who may be in similar circumstances and may have been mislead by the pure hearsay post submitted by you with apparent authority but clearly wrong advice.

You've obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a shit about what you are "interested in".

You mix apples and oranges with respect to residency and employment, then think you have come up with something magical and new.

The bottom line is this: If you're in the country as a visitor, nobody gives a shit if you're working remotely for a temporary period of time. You don't have residency. If you work long enough without residency, your supposed to pay non resident tax. But, if you "visit" too long, you

I never said you need a work permit to work for a foreign employer. In fact, I've said just the opposite.

I did say that if you have residency, you need to file taxes in Singapore even when working for a foreign company. I did say that you file as a sole proprietor.

I did say that if the foreign company you are working for has a Singapore entity, then you must have a work permit for that Singapore entity. Now, some say that it doesn't matter to you if there is a Singapore entity, and I would challenge that. Ask Dell how many people that they have working in Singapore for Dell Round Rock. My guess would be zero. That's if your resident, that is. If you're in visiting, there are flocks of people at Dell from elsewhere at Dell doing work. For a short duration. On a visitors pass.

You need to be clear. You're not some offshore oil guy, in and out of Singapore and a half dozen other countries, making residency unclear. You're a visitor, working. Half of the subcontinent would be over here if there weren't restrictions on employment without residency.

So, it appears to me that you have gotten your panties in a wad because you didn't understand what I said. Oh, well.

[SingaporeDon]

Don't worry about a response from me... you've got it all figured out.

Myasis Dragon,

Now I have got WRITTEN confirmation from MOM that as a foreigner working remotely from Singapore for a foreign employer, on the foreign employer's payroll, for foreign employer's clients I do not, REPEAT DO NOT need a Work Permit or even an exemption from a Work Permit. They said all I need to make sure is that I have a social visit pass issued or extended for my stay in Singapore by ICA

I am not interested in engaging in any conversation with you so dont bother to respond to my post. I wanted to post this for the benefit of other forum members who may be in similar circumstances and may have been mislead by the pure hearsay post submitted by you with apparent authority but clearly wrong advice.

You've obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a shit about what you are "interested in".

You mix apples and oranges with respect to residency and employment, then think you have come up with something magical and new.

The bottom line is this: If you're in the country as a visitor, nobody gives a shit if you're working remotely for a temporary period of time. You don't have residency. If you work long enough without residency, your supposed to pay non resident tax. But, if you "visit" too long, you ( you seem to have missed out completing this sentnce!)

I never said you need a work permit to work for a foreign employer. In fact, I've said just the opposite.

I did say that if you have residency, you need to file taxes in Singapore even when working for a foreign company. I did say that you file as a sole proprietor.

I did say that if the foreign company you are working for has a Singapore entity, then you must have a work permit for that Singapore entity. Now, some say that it doesn't matter to you if there is a Singapore entity, and I would challenge that. Ask Dell how many people that they have working in Singapore for Dell Round Rock. My guess would be zero. That's if your resident, that is. If you're in visiting, there are flocks of people at Dell from elsewhere at Dell doing work. For a short duration. On a visitors pass.

You need to be clear. You're not some offshore oil guy, in and out of Singapore and a half dozen other countries, making residency unclear. You're a visitor, working. Half of the subcontinent would be over here if there weren't restrictions on employment without residency.

So, it appears to me that you have gotten your panties in a wad because you didn't understand what I said. Oh, well.

This was my exact 2 part question in this thread
Given that my main question is
1. Do I assume my working remotely for home country employer while physically in Singapore does not require a WP at all or
2. It will fall under the exemptions from getting a WP ( although remote working is not clearly listed amongst the 6 types of work for which exemptions can be applied for and granted ) so I can continue to work remotely but must apply for an exemption from getting a WP?
In fact I specifically said up thread "Just as an aside, mine is more of a clarity on WP question, not really about Singapore taxes. If IRA treats me as Singapore tax resident as I am physically in Singapore for 183 days or more, I have no issues in filing and paying Singapore tax in addition to the home country tax I will pay for being on the GFC payroll"


This what you had said

I'm going to bet you another $50 that there are strong interlocking agreements between every PWC office, independent ownership notwithstanding, that essentially creates a monolithic organization with respect to partners, process, procedure, and, oh yes, starting up another PWC office.

I'm going to bet an additional $50 that MoM and ICA absolutely do not give a flying f*ck about your artificial distinctions that allegedly make each unit independent. PWC Singapore = PWC elsewhere.

Why? Because the gahmen doesn't want you working for PWC as an expat, when PWC Singapore ought to be hiring you through the correct process. Therefore, you are not working for a home based employer. If you don't agree with my assertion, call MoM, ask them. Email them... they usually respond in 2 or 3 days to more complex questions


Now you say
I never said you need a work permit to work for a foreign employer. In fact, I've said just the opposite. - Actually you never said so,

I did say that if you have residency, you need to file taxes in Singapore even when working for a foreign company. I did say that you file as a sole proprietor.That was never the question I asked - see my quote above, and you never mentioned filing as a sole proprietor, although it is a moot point give my question was never about taxation, it was specifically about work permits


Looks like you and not me got your apples and oranges mixed and got your panties in a wad!

Once again I don't want to raise the temperature in the forum - there is enough mayhem going on in the real world with coronavirus, lockdowns et all.

I know you are a senior highly respected, well regarded professional member of this forum, but can I respectfully ask you to end this conversation here.
Thanks for your kind understanding, let us write this off to "crossed wires", and move on. Have a good weekend.

[SingaporeDon]

That is really interesting and news to me. My current job is actually global and the people reporting to me are scattered around the globe (none in Singapore). My job can be done from anywhere in the world, and if I were to move outside Singapore, the job would move with me. In this case, it sounds like an EP is not even necessary for this job, I could be on a LTVP under my wife and continue working without even getting a LOC?

malcontent
MOM specifically told me if you are working remotely for a foreign employer who has no local presence, you do not need a WP or an exemption from a WP, as long as ICA has approved your stay in Singapore. I guess being on LTVP you have that permission from ICA to continue staying in Singapore.

But as pointed out by others up thread, you will have to carefully look at your Singapore tax residence and filing status. That may be an issue you need to clarify, but I can assure your WP is unlikely to be an issue given your circumstances you mention

[SingaporeDon]

Sorry forgot to include post I was responding to in quotes

[malcontent]

I catch no ball... how much does who get for what?

[SingaporeDon]

Sorry for the question but how much do you get? I'm looking for a new career, and I'm thinking about it.

Don’t understand your question or the context in which you are asking it AlanMcLean. Don

[SingaporeDon]

Don't worry about a response from me... you've got it all figured out.

Myasis Dragon,

Now I have got WRITTEN confirmation from MOM that as a foreigner working remotely from Singapore for a foreign employer, on the foreign employer's payroll, for foreign employer's clients I do not, REPEAT DO NOT need a Work Permit or even an exemption from a Work Permit. They said all I need to make sure is that I have a social visit pass issued or extended for my stay in Singapore by ICA

I am not interested in engaging in any conversation with you so dont bother to respond to my post. I wanted to post this for the benefit of other forum members who may be in similar circumstances and may have been mislead by the pure hearsay post submitted by you with apparent authority but clearly wrong advice.

Don - you're a douche. You come here for free advice and then abuse one of our more knowledgeable members who offered you advise with the clear caveat that should do your own research, I hope you miserably fail and end up broke and in prison.

PNGMK calling me a '"cunt" first and then changing it to "douche" just shows how juvenile and unprofessional you are. If you read my posts, you will clearly see that your "knowledgeable buddy" clearly did not read what I was asking ( about Work Permit, nothing to do with tax, and I had specifically said so) and was barking up the wrong tree, may be due to crossed wires.

And then to have you jump in with a football hooligan's language just goes to prove how uncivilised and uncultured you are. Have a Merry Christmas

[sundaymorningstaple]

Moderator changed it to douche so as to remove the vulgarity but leave the tone/meaning of the message intact.

[malcontent]

My question was, what does GFC even stand for? So I did a quick Google search “what does GFC stand for” and the first result was from urban dictionary:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=GFC

Learn something new everyday!

[sundaymorningstaple]

^^^^ Touché.

[PNGMK]

Myasis Dragon,

Now I have got WRITTEN confirmation from MOM that as a foreigner working remotely from Singapore for a foreign employer, on the foreign employer's payroll, for foreign employer's clients I do not, REPEAT DO NOT need a Work Permit or even an exemption from a Work Permit. They said all I need to make sure is that I have a social visit pass issued or extended for my stay in Singapore by ICA

I am not interested in engaging in any conversation with you so dont bother to respond to my post. I wanted to post this for the benefit of other forum members who may be in similar circumstances and may have been mislead by the pure hearsay post submitted by you with apparent authority but clearly wrong advice.

Don - you're a douche. You come here for free advice and then abuse one of our more knowledgeable members who offered you advise with the clear caveat that should do your own research, I hope you miserably fail and end up broke and in prison.

PNGMK calling me a '"cunt" first and then changing it to "douche" just shows how juvenile and unprofessional you are. If you read my posts, you will clearly see that your "knowledgeable buddy" clearly did not read what I was asking ( about Work Permit, nothing to do with tax, and I had specifically said so) and was barking up the wrong tree, may be due to crossed wires.

And then to have you jump in with a football hooligan's language just goes to prove how uncivilised and uncultured you are. Have a Merry Christmas

Whatever Don.

[skapo_80]

I've seen some countries offering "digital nomad visas", which are meant for digital workers/WFH types. I believe Bali is offering this. In the case of a Singapore EP holder who spends 11 months of the year in Bali, would this mean they are only liable for the 15% flat tax in Singapore, while living most of their time in Bali?

[malcontent]

I've seen some countries offering "digital nomad visas", which are meant for digital workers/WFH types. I believe Bali is offering this. In the case of a Singapore EP holder who spends 11 months of the year in Bali, would this mean they are only liable for the 15% flat tax in Singapore, while living most of their time in Bali?

Generally speaking, once you spend 6 months in Indonesia, you will become a tax resident and subject to Indo tax on your worldwide.

However, there can be specific exceptions both from tax treaties with your country of citizenship as well as specific to the visa you hold.