According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) a greater number of taxpayers have filed their tax returns early this year. Statistics issued by the IRAS show that 75 percent of taxpayers managed to submit their returns by April 1, 2014; and this represents a proportion that is around 4 percent higher than the equivalent figure for 2013. The overall filing proportion is 95 percent, and in 2014 this number includes 820,000 e-Filers. Also more than one million taxpayers were recorded on the No-Filing Service, meaning that they did not need to file a return unless another source of income had been available to them that needed to be declared or they wanted to revise their personal tax reliefs.
The IRAS intends to issue notices of assessment (NOAs) commencing from May 2014. Those taxpayers who are not using GIRO must pay their taxes within one month of the receipt of the assessment. Those taxpayers who elect to pay their tax using GIRO are able to make twelve interest-free installment payments of tax if they choose. Individual taxpayers who have not filed their returns are advised to do this without delay to avoid incurring a penalty of up to SGD1,000 (USD795).
