Tax clearance - when can I get my money back?

[cataluna2k]

I am leaving SG soon due to retrenchment. My last day was mid Feb and my Feb salary plus severance pay is now being withheld by IRAS. The amount withheld is more than the tax balance.

My questions:
1. My IRAS page didnt show any payment made regarding to the tax but my Feb payslip indicated the amount deducted. Is this normal?
2. Usually how long does it take for IRAS to release the balance?
3. How do I know if my company did make the payment to IRAS? There is no info on my IRAS page. They just told me that they are waiting for clearance from IRAS but no info when this can happen.

Thanks.

[sundaymorningstaple]

IRAS doesn't have the balance. You employer does. You employer is required to withhold the final salaries and they will be paying your income taxes. After such tax clearance, they will receive a letter or notice from ICA to release the balance of your salaries to you for your departure. That way you are not allowed to skip out on the Balance Due and the employer is roped in to ensure you don't get tempted once you have your final salary to disappear in the middle of the night.

[sundaymorningstaple]

You need to keep up with the employer or call IRAS to ask if you taxes have been cleared (if so, then your employer is trying to pull a con.)

[feydrautha]

It's normal. The payslip deduction confirms your company withheld the tax, but it takes some time for the transfer to process at IRAS. Once IRAS receives your tax payment and processes your Form IR21, they will typically release any excess amount withheld within 30 days.

[otiscavin]

Typically 21 days for e-filed returns with direct deposit; 6-8 weeks for paper filings.

[PNGMK]

You can beat this by paying taxes yourself and then having IRAS update your clearance which then can be used by employer to release funds.

I've helped another guy do it sometime back. Not sure of exact steps.

[Wd40]

There are 2 parts to this.
1) The ongoing giro from the previous year, the tax amount for this is already known. So we can pay it in full.
2) The tax amount for the current year, since notice period is usually 1 month and if you have some leaves to offset, then it may not even be 1 month. So it takes some time for the tax to be calculated and to be paid.

So in this case, if we are sure that the employer has withheld more than the tax amount due, can we leave Singapore? Or are we going to get stopped at immigration?

[PNGMK]

The anguished soul, beset on all sides by the crushing weight of bureaucratic necessity. I recall an instance, a singular and searing experience, wherein I guided a troubled individual through the labyrinthine process of reconciling his tax affairs.

With each step, the weight of responsibility bore down upon us, the burden of accountability looming like a specter on the horizon. And yet, we pressed on, driven by the imperative of authenticity, of rendering unto Caesar that which was rightfully his.

The process, I confess, was an ordeal of fire, a crucible in which the very soul was tested. But emerge we did, scarred yet wiser, with the tax affairs settled and the amount due paid in full, a testament to the transformative power of integrity and determination.