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by Strong Eagle » Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:02 am
On the one hand this might be a gray area but I don't think you have anything to sweat.
Consider this: On any given day, there are dozens of flights between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Having been on more of those flights than I care to count, I can tell you that they are not filled with vacationing tourists dragging their little kiddies for an international experience.
The planes are full of business people, flying back and forth to conduct BUSINESS. Yes... the managing director of a large managed services organization headquartered in KL is flying in to sign a contract with one Singapore firm, to do a sales job at another, and to hold a quarterly performance meeting at his Singapore office. Is he "working"? Hell, yes. Does he have a business visa? Hell, no. And neither does anyone else on that airplane.
Or, I've worked on contract for several MNC's. Virtually all of them had "imported" people from the UK, EU, USA, and Oz, working in Singapore on various projects, from a few days to a few weeks, the time length under the bog standard tourist visa number of days. These people are not on any business visa.
From a reverse perspective, I flew all over Asia to do business... five days in Oz, seven days in Manila, four days in Tokyo. I was doing work. I never got a visa. And, almost all the people on the plane flying with me to wherever I was going were doing exactly the same thing.
What does IRAS have to say about this in terms of personal income taxation? If you are working in the country 60 days or less (and you're not a company director, entertainer, or third party consultant), you are not subject to tax. So, short answer: They don't care. The expectation is that you are paying your taxes elsewhere, wherever your residence is.
Caveat: This assumes you are travelling on a "good" passport... no need to apply for visas in advance.