Don’s column: Singapore corporate tax rate: Is it really a flat rate?

• Main Authors: KHOO, Teng Aun, GUAN, Clement Tan Kai
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Accounting; Asian Studies; Corporate Finance
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/1732; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soa_research/article/2759/viewcontent/Singapore_Corporte_Tax_Flate_Rate_2018_Oct_afv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

As there is only one corporate tax rate (CTR) in Singapore, it may appear that the Singapore CTR is a single flat rate, currently 17%. However, after taking into account the availability of the partial tax exemption (PTE)scheme, the start-up tax exemption (SUTE) scheme and the corporate income tax rebate (CITR) in Singapore, all of which have an effect of lowering a company’s tax payable, the seemingly flat Singapore CTR is not what it seems to be. Instead, it translates to various progressive tax rates for different tiers of normal chargeable income (NCI).