Tax & Reliefs: how your income tax works and the reliefs you can claim

Work out how IRAS taxes your income, claim every relief you qualify for, decide on SRS and top-ups, and run a year-end tax routine.

Most people in Singapore file their tax in a few minutes because IRAS fills in most of the form. That is convenient, and it also means many people never learn how the bill is worked out or which reliefs they are leaving unclaimed. A relief saves tax at your top rate, so the same claim is worth different amounts to different people. Some reliefs need you to act before 31 December. Some can be shared with siblings or a spouse. SRS and CPF top-ups cut tax now but lock money away. This course explains the system in plain words, goes through each main relief and when it fits, and ends with a tax plan you run once a year.

What you'll be able to do

• Work out your chargeable income, marginal rate and tax from your own figures and the current IRAS rates
• List every relief and rebate you qualify for, with its conditions and who in the family claims it
• Decide on a CPF top-up for relief, weighing the tax saved against the money locked away
• Model one SRS contribution from the tax saved to the tax paid on withdrawal
• Classify investment, rental and foreign income as taxable or exempt and record what to declare
• Run a year-end tax routine and keep records that would satisfy IRAS

Syllabus

Module 1: See how your income tax is worked out

Follow your income from salary to tax payable: what counts as income, how residency changes the rules, and why each relief saves tax at your top rate.

• 1.1 Chargeable income, and why reliefs save tax at your top rate
• 1.2 Tax residency and what it changes
• 1.3 What counts as income from your job
• 1.4 Rebuild your tax bill from scratch

Module 2: Claim the reliefs that fit your life

Go through the main personal reliefs and rebates, the conditions for each, and how family members decide who claims them.

• 2.1 Reliefs you get without asking
• 2.2 Spouse, child and working mother reliefs
• 2.3 Parent, grandparent caregiver and family reliefs
• 2.4 NSman, life insurance and donation deductions
• 2.5 List every relief you qualify for

Module 3: Use CPF top-ups and stay under the relief cap

Understand the tax relief on CPF cash top-ups and voluntary MediSave contributions, the cap on total personal reliefs, and how to decide whether a top-up is worth locking money away.

• 3.1 Tax relief on CPF cash top-ups
• 3.2 Voluntary MediSave contributions and relief
• 3.3 The relief cap and the order you claim in
• 3.4 Decide your top-up for the year

Module 4: Run SRS from contribution to withdrawal

Model the Supplementary Retirement Scheme over its whole life: the relief on the way in, what to hold inside, the tax on the way out and when it pays.

• 4.1 How SRS works and who it suits
• 4.2 What to hold inside your SRS account
• 4.3 The tax on withdrawal, and what early withdrawal costs
• 4.4 When SRS saves tax and when it does not
• 4.5 Model one SRS contribution over its life

Module 5: Declare investment, rental and side income correctly

Sort out which investment returns are taxable, how rental income is taxed, and what to do with income from outside your job.

• 5.1 Dividends, interest and investment gains
• 5.2 Renting out a room or a property
• 5.3 Side income and other income you must declare
• 5.4 Classify every income line

Module 6: Handle foreign income and moving countries

Know when foreign income is taxed, what happens when you work overseas or move here or away, and how double taxation is avoided.

• 6.1 Foreign income received in Singapore
• 6.2 Working overseas and moving away
• 6.3 Double taxation agreements and foreign tax credits
• 6.4 Write your foreign income note

Module 7: File, check and plan the year ahead

File accurately, fix mistakes, keep the records IRAS may ask for, and run a year-end routine that catches missed reliefs before 31 December.

• 7.1 What IRAS already knows and what you must add
• 7.2 Mistakes, amendments and objections
• 7.3 Records to keep and the year-end routine
• 7.4 Build your yearly tax plan

Frequently asked questions

How long does the course take?

About seven hours of lessons and exercises. Most exercises use your IRAS account and last notice of assessment, so have your Singpass ready.

How is this different from Self-employed and freelance: money with irregular income?

That course covers the tax duties of self-employment: declaring trade income, allowable expenses and records. This course covers personal income tax for residents in depth: reliefs, rebates, top-ups, SRS, investment, rental and foreign income, and filing.

Will the figures go out of date?

Tax rates, relief amounts, caps and SRS limits change, often in the Budget. The course teaches how each rule works and sends you to IRAS for current figures, so your worksheet uses this year's numbers.

Is this tax or financial advice?

No. The course is education and does not replace tax or financial advice. It teaches how the rules work and how to decide, and never tells you what to buy. Check current rules with IRAS and the CPF Board, and speak to a tax adviser about complex cases.

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