Giving.sg is the national one-stop platform run by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), where you can donate, volunteer or fundraise for more than 600 registered charities in Singapore. The practical reason most people land here is money: a donation to an approved charity can give you a 250% tax deduction, and Giving.sg files that deduction with IRAS for you so it shows up in your tax bill automatically. The catch worth knowing is the fee. Charities pay NVPC 1.8% of what you give, plus GST, so not every dollar reaches the cause. This guide covers the fee, what qualifies for tax relief, how to donate with Singpass, and how the deduction actually reaches your assessment.
Giving.sg launched in 2015 as Singapore's national giving platform. It is operated by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), a non-profit that the Government set up to grow giving across the country. The portal pulls three activities into one login: one-off and recurring donations, volunteering sign-ups, and personal or group fundraising campaigns.
The scale is the selling point. More than 600 registered charities and Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) maintain profiles, so you can give to a hospice, an animal shelter or a school bursary without hunting down each charity's own payment page. Every charity on the platform is a registered non-profit, which removes a lot of the vetting risk that comes with informal donation drives on social media.
Giving.sg is free for you as a donor at the point of payment, but it is not free for the charity. NVPC charges registered charities a transaction fee of 1.8% of the donation amount, plus the prevailing GST on that fee. GST has been 9% since 1 January 2024, so the GST adds roughly 0.16% on top, for an effective cut of about 1.96% of your gift. NVPC disburses the donations, less those fees, to charities on a weekly cycle.
On a $100 donation, that means around $1.96 is taken in fee and GST, and the charity receives about $98.04. The fee covers bank and payment-gateway charges plus the cost of running the platform. It is worth understanding because it changes how much of your gift lands: on a large gift, giving direct to the charity's own PayNow line can sometimes pass on slightly more, while Giving.sg buys you the automatic tax receipt and a single dashboard for all your giving.
This 1.8% is lower than it used to be. During the pandemic NVPC waived its then 3% transaction fee from January 2020 to March 2021 to keep more money flowing to charities, and the headline rate has since settled at the current 1.8%. Always treat the exact figure as a live number and check the charity-facing terms on giving.sg, since fees on any payment platform can move.
| Platform | Fee model | Charity receives (approx) | Tax receipt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giving.sg | 1.8% + 9% GST on fee | ~$98.04 | Automatic, filed to IRAS |
| Charity's own PayNow | Bank transfer, usually no fee | ~$100 | Charity must issue manually |
| GIVE.asia | 1.5% payment processing, no platform fee, optional donor gratuity | ~$98.50 | Depends on the IPC campaign |
For most Singapore taxpayers the tax relief dwarfs the platform fee. Cash donations to an approved IPC qualify for a 250% tax deduction. For every $1 you give, $2.50 is deducted from your taxable income. This enhanced rate has been extended to 31 December 2026. The deduction lowers your chargeable income, so the actual cash you save depends on your marginal tax rate.
A worked example makes it concrete. Donate $1,000 to an IPC and you get a $2,500 deduction. If your top dollar of income is taxed at the 15% bracket, that deduction saves you about $375 in tax. The 1.96% Giving.sg fee on that gift is roughly $19.60, so the tax benefit is far larger than the fee. Run your own numbers with our Singapore income tax calculator to see which bracket your last dollar sits in.
Two conditions decide whether you get the deduction at all. First, the charity must be an approved IPC, not merely a registered charity, because only IPCs can issue tax-deductible receipts. Second, the donation must be a cash gift with no material benefit in return; if you receive goods, event tickets or naming rights, only the net donation usually qualifies. Giving.sg flags IPC status on each profile and shows a Claim Tax Relief toggle at checkout.
You do not file a donation claim yourself. Since 2011, IPCs are required to record your identification number with each tax-deductible gift, and they submit the donor name, date and amount directly to IRAS. IRAS then pre-fills the deduction into your assessment. You will not see a field to type donations into your tax return for these gifts, and IRAS does not accept claims based on a paper receipt alone.
This is exactly why the NRIC or FIN step at checkout matters. If you donate without signing in via Singpass, you must enter your NRIC accurately and switch on the Claim Tax Relief toggle, or the gift will not be linked to your tax file. The cleanest route is to sign in with Singpass so your identification number is captured correctly every time.
After you give, Giving.sg sends a confirmation email with your tax-deductible receipt. The number to verify is on your Notice of Assessment: check that the donation total appears under deductions. If a gift is missing, that is the signal that your NRIC was not captured, and you should contact the charity to resubmit it to IRAS.
Search for a charity or campaign, choose a one-time or monthly amount, and pay. Payment options on the platform cover credit and debit cards, PayNow and eNETS, with PayNow QR being the cheapest for the charity to receive. Keep the Claim Tax Relief toggle on and confirm your NRIC or sign in with Singpass.
Browse volunteering roles posted by charities, filter by cause or date, and sign up directly. Charities manage attendance through the same portal, so your volunteering history sits alongside your giving in one dashboard.
To run your own campaign, log in via Singpass, Facebook or email and set up a fundraising page tied to a registered charity. NVPC verifies and activates new profiles before a campaign goes public, so there is a review step before your page is live and shareable. Funds raised are subject to the same disbursement and fee rules as direct donations.
If your only goal is to maximise the dollars that reach a cause, a direct PayNow transfer to the charity's own UEN can pass on slightly more, since it usually carries no platform fee. The trade-off is the receipt: the charity must then issue your tax-deductible receipt manually and report it to IRAS, which is more error-prone than the automated Giving.sg flow.
GIVE.asia is the other large player, charging a 1.5% payment processing fee and no platform fee, with operations funded by an optional donor gratuity. For tax purposes the same IPC rule applies on any platform: the receiving charity must be an approved IPC for your gift to qualify for the 250% deduction. If you give regularly and value one place that tracks every receipt for your tax file, Giving.sg's automation usually outweighs its 1.8% fee.
Donations are one of the few tax reliefs with no annual cap on the deduction itself, which makes them useful in a high-income year. They sit alongside other levers like CPF and SRS contributions. If you are already weighing year-end tax moves, a cash top-up compared in our guide on topping up CPF SA with cash and a donation can both reduce the same chargeable income, so the order and size matter.
Timing is the simple win. A tax-deductible donation made by 31 December counts toward that Year of Assessment, so giving in late December rather than early January can pull the deduction forward a full year. Decide the amount against your bracket first, then give through Giving.sg so the receipt is filed without you lifting a finger.
It is free for donors at checkout, but NVPC charges the receiving charity 1.8% of the donation plus GST on that fee. On a $100 gift the charity receives about $98.04 after the fee and 9% GST are deducted.
Donate to an approved IPC, keep the Claim Tax Relief toggle on, and provide your NRIC or sign in with Singpass. The IPC reports the gift to IRAS, which pre-fills the 250% deduction into your tax assessment automatically.
No. Only approved Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) can issue tax-deductible receipts. A charity can be registered and listed on giving.sg without IPC status, so check the IPC label on the charity profile before you give if tax relief matters to you.
Yes. The enhanced 250% tax deduction for qualifying cash donations to IPCs has been extended through 31 December 2026, meaning every $1 donated reduces your taxable income by $2.50 for gifts made before that date.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.