Tax reliefs for single earning parent

[Fortan]

I was reading about tax reliefs earlier today. Perhaps I am just dumb but I can read through it on the IRAS website but I am still not entirely sure what it means to me.

From what I understand there is something called PTR (Parenthood Tax Relief) which you can claim and as a foreigner you should be able to claim it as well, if you are a tax resident (stay more than 183 days in Singapore).

I am here on an EP
I am the only one with income in the family
We arrived on the 19th of May 2013
My daughter is here on a DP. She is born 8/1/2013
My wife is here on a DP

From what i understand, I can claim 5,000 S$ in tax relief for my daughter - is that correct?

Any other tax reliefs for foreigners that I might take into consideration?

[Saint]

Unfortunately PTR is only available to parents of Singaporean Children

[Wd40]

You can claim the Qualified child Relief($4000 subtracted from your employment income) and Spouse Relief($2000 subtracted from your employment income), but not the PTR.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Saint is spot on.

From the IRAS website:

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=1528

To check your eligibility for Parenthood Tax Rebate, you may use our PTR calculator(94.0KB).

You can claim PTR if you are a married, divorced or widowed Singapore tax resident in the relevant year* and the qualifying child is:

(a) For a legitimate child

Born to your family on or after 1 January 2008; and
Is a Singapore citizen at the time of birth or within 12 months thereafter.

[Fortan]

You can claim the Qualified child Relief($4000 subtracted from your employment income) and Spouse Relief($2000 subtracted from your employment income), but not the PTR.

Do you have a link to how I would do that?

[Fortan]

Saint is spot on.

From the IRAS website:

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=1528

To check your eligibility for Parenthood Tax Rebate, you may use our PTR calculator(94.0KB).

You can claim PTR if you are a married, divorced or widowed Singapore tax resident in the relevant year* and the qualifying child is:

(a) For a legitimate child

Born to your family on or after 1 January 2008; and
Is a Singapore citizen at the time of birth or within 12 months thereafter.

I guess it is the terms that have been confusing me since I am not a native English speaking person, I sometimes gets a little confused. So a citizen would be a Permanent Resident (PR holder) only, under the foreigners category?

[Saint]

I guess it is the terms that have been confusing me since I am not a native English speaking person, I sometimes gets a little confused. So a citizen would be a Permanent Resident (PR holder) only, under the foreigners category?

A PR holder is not a Citizen. I'm a Singapore PR Holder but a British Citizen as I have a British Passport.

[sundaymorningstaple]

PTR (Parenthood Tax Relief) - Foreigner cannot.
Qualifying Child Relief - foreigner can.

Qualifying/Handicapped Child Relief
You may claim for either qualifying child relief (QCR) or the handicapped child relief (HCR). The child need not be a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or staying in Singapore for you to make such claim. QCR/HCR may be shared with your spouse based on the apportionment agreed by both parties.

For claim of QCR, the child must:

- Be unmarried; and

- Be a legitimate child, step child or legally adopted child; and

- Be below 16 years old or studying full-time at any university, college or other educational institution; and

- Not have an annual income (e.g. salary from vacation jobs but not including scholarship and similar allowances) exceeding $4,000 in the previous year.

If the child is mentally or physically handicapped, you can claim for HCR. You cannot claim HCR on the same child if you are claiming or have already claimed QCR in the same YA.

[Fortan]

PTR (Parenthood Tax Relief) - Foreigner cannot.
Qualifying Child Relief - foreigner can.

Qualifying/Handicapped Child Relief
You may claim for either qualifying child relief (QCR) or the handicapped child relief (HCR). The child need not be a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or staying in Singapore for you to make such claim. QCR/HCR may be shared with your spouse based on the apportionment agreed by both parties.

For claim of QCR, the child must:

- Be unmarried; and

- Be a legitimate child, step child or legally adopted child; and

- Be below 16 years old or studying full-time at any university, college or other educational institution; and

- Not have an annual income (e.g. salary from vacation jobs but not including scholarship and similar allowances) exceeding $4,000 in the previous year.

If the child is mentally or physically handicapped, you can claim for HCR. You cannot claim HCR on the same child if you are claiming or have already claimed QCR in the same YA.

That is very interesting, since my wife has a son from a previous marriage who is 6. He is currently living with his dad in another Asian country and the we have our little daughter with us here. He goes to an International School where he lives but comes to our place for holidays and long weekends etc. So I does that mean that I would be able to get tax relief for both my daughter and step son?

[sundaymorningstaple]

It most tax circles, a child may only be claimed by a single parent. Therefore, I would assume that the child is being claimed by the Father of the child if the child is actually living with him and he has custody of the child. However, I cannot say with any degree of certainty how that would play out in two different countries. I might be inclined to try it, but I would certainly ensure I would have the money to pay the taxes if it was subsequently disallowed. How they would know that I'm not sure but with all data linked in a master database now, it would be easy to find out that the child was not normally resident in Singapore (e.g., DP or LTVP or Student Visa). At that point, the question that would arise, is why and with whom is the minor child staying with. One it is determined that the Father has custody of the child, then IRAS would make a determination. Whether that sequence of events would even transpire, I have no idea, but it's very plausible that it could be done.

I'll just leave it there...

[sundaymorningstaple]

It most tax circles, a child may only be claimed by a single parent. Therefore, I would assume that the child is being claimed by the Father of the child if the child is actually living with him and he has custody of the child. However, I cannot say with any degree of certainty how that would play out in two different countries. I might be inclined to try it, but I would certainly ensure I would have the money to pay the taxes if it was subsequently disallowed. How they would know that I'm not sure but with all data linked in a master database now, it would be easy to find out that the child was not normally resident in Singapore (e.g., DP or LTVP or Student Visa). At that point, the question that would arise, is why and with whom is the minor child staying with. One it is determined that the Father has custody of the child, then IRAS would make a determination. Whether that sequence of events would even transpire, I have no idea, but it's very plausible that it could be done.

I'll just leave it there...

[PNGMK]

Children of divorce can only have PTR and QCR claimed by the custodial parent.... I had a thread about fighting this before under my old OSOD monicker.

[Wd40]

You can claim the Qualified child Relief($4000 subtracted from your employment income) and Spouse Relief($2000 subtracted from your employment income), but not the PTR.

Do you have a link to how I would do that?

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/page04.aspx?id=214
http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=218

Its very simple. Come next april, you will be asked to file your taxes for this year(2013). Most employers file the employment income directly to IRAS. All you have to do is log in to IRAS using your Singpass and then enter the 2 rebate amounts. This has to be done in April next year.

[Wd40]

Regarding claiming QCR for your step son, do note that the $4000 is rebate on the employment income and not on the tax amount. So the amount may be negligible depending on your tax slab.

Play with this tax calculator:

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/uploade ... 1_IRAS.xls


Enter $2000 for the spouse relief and $4000 per child for Qualifying child relief.

During the 1st iteration enter for just 1 child and then enter for 2 children and see if the difference makes sense.

In my case, I just save ~$300 in the final tax for every additional child.

[sundaymorningstaple]

And always keep it in the back of your mind that you could also be tossed out of the country if found trying to cheat on your taxes. That would be a b*tch for $300!