The IRAS tax year. YA2024 covers income earned in calendar year 2023, filed and assessed in 2024. Tax bills are issued under the YA designation.
The Year of Assessment is IRAS's tax year designation. It covers income earned in the preceding calendar year and is the period in which that income is reported, assessed, and taxed.
Singapore uses the term 'Year of Assessment' (YA) rather than 'tax year' to clearly distinguish the assessment year (when you file) from the income year (when you earned it).
YA2024 covers income earned in calendar year 2023.
YA2025 covers income earned in calendar year 2024.
Filing deadline: typically 18 April of the YA (e.g., 18 April 2025 for YA2025).
NOA issued: May – August of the YA.
Tax payment due: typically one month after NOA, or in 12 monthly GIRO instalments.
Year-end planning: actions you take in December (RSTU, SRS contributions, charitable donations) affect the NEXT YA's tax bill. There's no retroactive adjustment.
RSTU deadline: cash top-ups must clear by 31 December to count for that calendar year's tax assessment.
SRS deadline: same — 31 December cut-off for that year's contribution to count.
Annual review: late November / early December is the right time to project your tax position and decide on year-end moves.
Backdated income changes (bonuses, late commissions): generally taxed in the year you receive them, not the year they're earned. Some exceptions apply.
Carry-forward: losses (for self-employed) can be carried forward indefinitely subject to shareholding tests. Capital losses on personal investments are not deductible (no capital gains tax means no capital loss deduction).
Foreign-sourced income: taxable when remitted to Singapore for residents. Timing remittance across YAs can manage tax bands.
Tax residency status changes: critical for those moving between Singapore and overseas. Determined by physical presence days and employment circumstances per YA.
IRAS's tax year designation. YA2024 covers income earned in calendar year 2023 — the income year and assessment year are offset by 12 months. Singapore uses this distinction deliberately to separate the year you earned the income from the year you report and pay tax on it.
March to April of the YA year. Filing deadline is 18 April. Income earned in the calendar year is reported in the following YA. So 2024 income is reported in YA2025, due 18 April 2025.
Contributions that must clear by 31 December: SRS top-ups, RSTU cash top-ups, donations to approved IPCs. Reviewing reliefs in November / early December gives you time to act before year-end. Procrastinating past 31 December pushes those actions to the next YA.
Rarely. Resident tax rates have been stable across recent YAs; rebates (one-off relief) sometimes vary by Budget announcement. The S$80,000 personal reliefs cap and major brackets have been unchanged since YA2018. Check IRAS for any current-year adjustments.