the 183 days rule - do holidays count?

[jimbob12345]

hello

I arrived into the country on October 4th 2012 and my EP is also dated October 4th.

I have been in continuous employment since then on the same contract (start date 4 October) and the same EP.

This would mean the 183 days rule requires me to be in Singapore until 4 April to qualify as a resident.

But during this time I've been out of the country for holidays. Will I need to add these days on to the 183 days. Let's say I took a holiday of 7 days, do I actually need to stay in Singapore til 11 April to qualify?

Many thanks!

[Mi Amigo]

From my reading of the IRAS website, you don't need to worry about those holiday days:

"Under our tax residency rules, you will be regarded as a tax resident for the calendar year(s) concerned if you stay or work in Singapore:

for at least 183 days in a calendar year; or
continuously for 3 consecutive years; or
for at least 183 days for a continuous period over two years (from 1/1/2007)

Otherwise, you are regarded as a non-resident for tax purposes.

The number of days in Singapore include weekends and public holidays. Any absences from Singapore that are temporary (eg overseas vacation leave) or incidental to your Singapore employment (eg business trips) are still regarded as employment exercised in Singapore for the purpose of determining your tax residency."

More here:

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page.aspx?id=11538

[I thought I'd post this before a certain newbie poster jumped in and suggested you call IRAS and ask them.]

[sundaymorningstaple]

As long as your EP is uninterrupted it doesn't matter whether you are in or without the country. However, if your EP is cancelled and you go home for a month and come back on another EP, the time out of the country will not count as you would not be holding any residency visa. However, on the flip side, if you were to change jobs and had several weeks between jobs but were still physically present in Singapore, your time would continue to accrue towards the 183 days.

[jimbob12345]

Thanks for the help.

That's very clear the information from the IRAS website. Didn't spot that before but exactly what I was looking for

Cheers