Services · Tax
Pay certain amounts to non-residents and Singapore expects you to withhold tax and file by fixed deadlines. Most SMEs discover this obligation from a penalty letter. Ours discover it from us, in advance.
Interest to foreign lenders, royalties and software licence fees, technical and management service fees performed in Singapore, equipment rental from non-residents and fees to non-resident directors each carry their own withholding rate and rules. Tax treaties frequently reduce the rate, but only with the right paperwork such as a certificate of residence from the recipient. The filing and payment deadline is tight, by the 15th of the second month after payment, so classification has to happen when the invoice arrives rather than at year end.
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The common ones for SMEs: interest, royalties and software licences, service fees for work performed in Singapore, equipment rental and non-resident director fees. Pure offshore services generally do not, but the facts decide and we classify each payment type once.
Interest is commonly 15% and royalties 10% before treaty relief, services attract the prevailing corporate rate and non-resident director remuneration a higher final rate. Treaties often reduce these, which is exactly the analysis we run per payment.
File and pay by the 15th of the second month following the date of payment to the non-resident. Late filing attracts penalties on top of the tax.
Yes, Singapore’s treaty network frequently lowers rates on interest and royalties, sometimes to zero. Relief requires the recipient’s certificate of residence, which we obtain and file properly.
A voluntary disclosure cleans it up at far lower cost than discovery. We quantify the exposure, file the disclosure and negotiate instalments where needed.
Send us your cross-border payment list and we will map the obligations.
Accounting, corporate secretarial, payroll and advisory for Singapore SMEs since 2012.
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