Acknowledging that businesses operating in Singapore are of vastly different scales, IRAS has designed an easy corporate tax filing process to cater to the needs of medium-scale businesses. This is what led to the creation of Form C-S.
What is Form C-S?
Consider it the abridged version of Form C. The IRAS designed Form C-S to be a simplified alternative for companies that meet the requirements for using it. Unlike the 7-page Form C, Form C-S is just a 3-page document. In total, eligible companies are expected to fill eighteen fields on the Form.
Who is Eligible to File Form C-S?
Form C-S became effective from the 2017 Year of Assessment. The primary eligibility requirements for companies to be able to file Form C-S include:
- The company must be incorporated in Singapore.
- In the Year of Assessment, the company must have made an annual revenue of S$5 million or less. This includes income from within and outside Singapore.
- The company’s income is taxed at the prevailing corporate tax rate of 17%.
- The company is not benefiting from any relief program. These include Group Relief, foreign tax deduction and credit, capital allowance/loss carry-backs of the YA, and investment allowance.
Companies that do not meet these requirements are expected to file Form C. In addition, a Form C-S Lite exists and was created by IRAS in 2020 to cater to small-scale companies with annual revenue of S$200,000 and less.
Documents Required to File Form C-S
In accordance with the requirements of IRAS, the 3-page Form C-S would also be filed together with certain other documents. It’s best to retain and have these documents ready when requested by IRAS. These documents include:
Financial Statement
Eligible companies are expected to include their audited or unaudited financial statements for the YA. However, companies that were dormant under that financial year or those that fall under the “small company” category are exempted from declaring their financial statements.
To properly understand how a company is categorized as a small company, kindly visit the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (ACRA) official website.
Declaration Statement
The statement is used to show that the company meets the requirements for using Form C-S. In addition, IRAS uses this to ascertain the eligibility status of the filing company.
Tax Computation
Taxes are calculated from a company’s income for a YA. Therefore, companies filing Form C-S should ensure they have proper tax computation for the financial year.
Several online calculators and tax experts can help with tax computation if there’s ever a need for it. Tax computation should be readily available along with its corresponding supporting schedules.
Declaration Form
This is needed to claim Writing Down Allowances for things like intellectual property rights.
Form C-S
The 3-page Form C-S should be completed and submitted with other supporting documents.
Although Form C-S hopes to simplify corporate tax e-filing by having fewer documents to be submitted, it’s always advisable to have these documents close by if they are available. In addition, IRAS can, for whatever reason, demand supporting documents at any time.
How to File Form C-S
As a simplified version of Form C, e-filing of Form C-S is relatively easy. Like with Form C, the process of e-filing can be divided into two processes.
Filing Preparation
Begin by checking the company’s eligibility for Form C-S. For example, a smaller company with annual revenue of S$200,000 or less should opt for a more recent and simplified Form, C-S Lite.
If the company qualifies for Form C-S, ensure authorization as an “Approver” for corporate tax filing and application. Valid CorpPass login details are also needed to access the IRAS tax portal.
Write down the company’s Unique Entity Number (UEN) or tax reference number and login information in a handy place for easy referencing. Also, the company’s financial records, tax computation, and other supporting documents should be made available and converted to PDFs for e-filing.
E-filing Process
The Form C-S e-filing process takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. The Form can be found on the IRAS tax portal.
To help ease the filing process, IRAS makes available several assistance guides for both companies and tax agents.
Select Business Tax and log in using the CorpPass information. Enter the company’s UEN when prompted and choose Corporate Tax. Next, select Form C-S and input the YA. Proceed to complete the 3-page form with the correct details.
There’s an option to save the filing progress and resume at a later date. When fully completed, submit with the appropriate supporting documents.
Penalties for Non-compliance
When a company fails to file and submit their corporate tax Form C-S on or before the stipulated deadline, IRAS issues a Notice of Assessment (NOA) to the company. An NOA is the estimated income tax amount computed by IRAS. Companies issued an NOA are expected to pay the stated amount within 30 days from the date of issue.
The defaulting company can file a Notice of Objection (NOO) as a form of appeal for failing to file and submit the corporate tax form before the deadline. To stay valid, the NOO must be filed within two months from the date of issue of the NOA.
If the company again fails to pay in compliance with the NOA, IRAS will issue a composition fee alongside the pending NOA. The fee has a maximum chargeable amount of S$1,000.
If all the above methods fail, IRAS is authorized to take the defaulting company’s directors to court. When found guilty, the company’s directors can be slapped with a maximum fine of S$10,000 or sentenced to a 12-month jail term. There’s also a possibility of being penalized with both the maximum fine and a 12-month jail term.