vibhash.joshi wrote: ↑Tue, 10 Aug 2021 10:06 pm
Hi Guys - I am an EP holder and my wife recently got a job online for an overseas company and she will be getting salary in her SGD account here after they convert USD overseas. I have read the posts here - I understand it is legal to work here since the company has no presence in SG but my wife will have to declare the tax, which is fine. My Question (apologies if it's repetitive but I couldn't find this anywhere) is
1. How and when will she file an income Tax return? Will it be directly next year March? Until then does she have to do anything at IRAS? Declare anything? Because he salary will start coming this month.. before she files the return for this year next year, just want to ensure no action is required till March 2022.
2. Does she have to inform or update MOM like we normally do when we update addresses?
Thanks a lot in advance. This forum has been really very helpful for me.
Here are the basics as I understand them.
No action is required on your part until Mar 1 of next year when all earnings from 2021 are reported. Singapore does not have withholding or payments of estimated tax.
If your wife executes an employment contract with the overseas employer, then she can file her return as employment income. If she goes this route, then her overseas employer will need to fill out an IR8A stating her income. The employer can get the form here.
https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Quick- ... Employers/
Don't ask me what an employment contract is, and no one at IRAS will ever ask to see it. But in Singapore, the employment contract is the one item that makes you an employee. So, essentially she will need to decide whether she is an employee or self employed for tax purposes.
Otherwise, your wife will file as a self employed person using Form B or Form B1. Which you will use is dependent upon things like total income earned and other complexities.
Either way, your wife will need to get registered with ACRA so that she is in the system, gets notifications and gets the correct forms sent to her. She will need to write an email to
[email protected] and explain her circumstances. Choose which way she wants to file as noted above and IRAS will get you on the right list, and get the right forms to you.
If filing as self employed, your wife will be considered by the ACRA to be an "unregistered sole proprietorship". People who do business only in their name as it appears on their NRIC or FIN do not need to register with the ACRA. But, if you add any other words, such as "Consulting", then you must register the business name with ACRA. You will also need to register if you want to open a bank account in any other name that your wife's as it appears on her FIN.
As far as I know, there is no need to contact MoM, as her DP status remains unchanged because no work permit is required for the nature of employment she is going to undertake.
My sense is that if the overseas company is willing to fill out an IR8A that might be the easiest way to file taxes. But, filing as self employed will permit you to take certain expenses, so it's worth sending that email and getting the necessary information about the self employment forms.
