The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) requires all business entities in the country to declare their income at the end of each financial year. Businesses or corporate entities are able to declare their income on tax filings using the tax forms C and C-S. Corporate tax filing must be done within the stipulated time frame to avoid penalties for non-compliance.
What is Form C?
This is an income tax return form that companies in Singapore are mandated to file for the year of assessment (YA). Form C is a 7-page form. Companies that are not eligible for Form C/S are required to complete and submit Form C along with their financial statements and tax computations.
Who is Eligible to File Form C?
Generally, all companies incorporated in Singapore are eligible to file Form C. Although other adapted forms were created to cater to small to medium-sized companies, any company incorporated in Singapore can choose to file using Form C.
Documents Required to File Form C
The IRAS requires more than the submission of the 7-page Form C. These are the accompanying documents required to successfully file the Form C:
Financial Statements
Companies can submit either audited or unaudited financial statements to IRAS. The only exception is if the company has filed a complete XBRL account with ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) or if the company is dormant in the YA.
Consecutively, all companies incorporated in Singapore are required to submit a corporate tax form irrespective of whether they have made a profit or suffered a loss in the year of assessment.
P/L Statement
A Singapore incorporated company must also include a detailed profit and loss account statement for the YA in question.
Tax Computation
The company’s tax computation for the assessment year is also an important supporting document. Therefore, the tax computation should be submitted with an accompanying supporting schedule.
Revised Tax Computation
For older companies, IRAS requests that they submit their previous tax computations. This should include all the tax computations for all previous YAs.
Claim Forms
This is only applicable if the company is eligible to receive tax benefits from any R&D expenditures or Group Relief.
Declaration form
This is required if the company is making a claim for Writing Down Allowances.
Form C
Lastly, the completed 7-page Form C must be included with all the other necessary documents.
How to File Form C
For ease of corporate tax filing, IRAS has created an e-filing process. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you effectively complete and file the corporate tax Form C.
Filing Preparation
The company would need to get an access code on CorpPass. If not registered, the company would need to create an account and set up an account with CorpPass.
Ensure the company gives the authorization to act as an “Approver” for matters related to Corporate tax. After this is done, the CorpPass login information and the company’s tax reference number (Unique Entity Number or Entity ID) should be kept within easy reach.
It’s important to note that all documents scanned for corporate tax filing must be submitted in PDF format. Therefore, ensure you convert all documents to PDF before starting the application.
E-filing Process
- Log onto the IRAS tax portal.
- When prompted, choose and select Business Tax and proceed to log in with the CorpPass.
- Input the company’s reference number or Unique Entity Number.
- Select Corporate Tax
- Choose and select Form C
- Select the intended Year of Assessment for the company
- Proceed to fill out Form C
Companies are not mandated to complete the filing in one go. There’s the option to save and continue some other time, as long as it’s still within the filing period. For security purposes, the IRAS tax filing page will log out automatically when left idle for about 20 minutes.
Penalties for Non-compliance
For 2020 YA, all companies were expected to e-file their corporate tax returns before the 15th of December. However, IRAS made changes in the 2021 YA stipulating that the deadline for e-filing the corporate tax would be moved forward to the 30th of November for each year.
When a company fails to submit its corporate tax filings, IRAS will issue a Notice of Assessment (NOA) at the expiration of the deadline. IRAS arrives at the NOA amount by making an estimate of the company’s income under the YA. The company is required to make payment of the amount on the issued NOA within a month after it is issued.
IRAS allows companies to file an objection to the NOA in the form of a Notice of Objection (NOO). This NOO must be filed within two months from the date the NOA was issued. A NOO would not exempt the company from paying its taxes as stipulated in the NOA. If the objection is accepted, the excess amount paid on the NOA will be returned to the company.
For any failure to make subsequent payment on the issued NOA, IRAS will further impose a composition fee punishment. This composition fee ranges from as low as S$200 to as much as S$1,000.
If for whatever reason, the company still defaults in making payments for the NOA and composition fee, IRAS will issue a Section 65B(3) notice to the company’s directors. This notice would mandate the company’s directors to submit the required information.
If all of these fail, IRAS will advise of and exert the severest possible punishment for non-compliance in the form of a court summons. When found guilty, the company’s directors are liable to a maximum fine of S$10,000 or a 12-month jail sentence. A harsher sentence can see the company’s directors receiving both punishments at the same time.