About paying income tax on the airport when leaving

[StockAnswer]

Hi all

during a presentation about income tax in Singapore (set up at my place of employment for new starters) we were told that in Singapore you would have to pay outstanding income tax at the airport when leaving the country.

But from looking at the information on the IRAS website it looks like the income tax issue will be considered already when notifiying your employer that you are leaving (in my contract my employer wants a two-month notice).

So is it possible that the tax is already paid during the notice period? And also, if it is paid at the airport, do they only take cash? Or make payment arrangements?

I wanted to make sure I have enough savings if I ever plan to leave. I contacted IRAS about paying my taxes monthly instead of at the end of the year but I think that they understood my question as being about making a payment arrangement (for future use) instead of paying in advance:-)

Anyone have experience of how the final tax payment works in practice?

cheers

[sundaymorningstaple]

There will be differing instances for the income tax treatment here. If you are on an employment pass then your employer is required to withhold at least the last months' salary. They are required to notify IRAS a minimum of one month before your last day of work. e.g., 1 month's notice. (IR21) This can be done either manually via fax (will take up to 30 days to get clearance) or via the website (clearance withing 14 days). It still has to be filed 30 days before your last day. The employer is required to pay your taxes up to the amount of any salaries still owed to you. Upon payment, they (IRAS) will then notify both you and the employer that any balance due you can now be paid to you. At that point the employer should pay the balance to you or you will get the balance on your final day of work if still employed (normal if it is filed online.)

If you are a PR on the other hand, the employer isn't required to withhold any salaries so if you are giving up your PR you should clear your tax liability with IRAS prior to departure or it also can be done at the airport (could get messy there I would suspect though). It would be better to give up your PR (ICA will furnish you with documentary evidence and you will also be given a normal departure card like a normal tourist on a social visit pass) and then clear your CPF and your tax liabilities once it has been determined that your PR has been rescinded .

There is also a GIRO pay as you go plan available as well. See the following for more information (it is a PDF file).

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/uploade ... 008doc.pdf

sms

[StockAnswer]

Thank you sundaymorningstaple. Your help is very appreciated.