15 Mar 2024

Tax savings at a glance

By Navin Sregantan

If you’ve only got a minute:

It is important to take note of the tax reliefs and tax deductions that are available.
The total amount of personal income tax reliefs is subject to an overall cap of S$80,000 per year.
Taxpayers are reminded to claim personal reliefs only if they meet the qualifying conditions for the reliefs.

For taxpayers in Singapore, March and April of each year is Tax Season. That’s when we must complete the filing of our personal income tax returns with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

For 2024, this will have to be done through the myTax Portal from 1 March and by 18 April.

It also applies to the 1.8 million taypayers who are under the No-Filing Service. They are still required to verify the accuracy of their auto-included income information and check their eligibility for any tax reliefs claimed.

Are you eligible for tax reliefs? Do you know you can potentially claim expenses arising from working from home as well as approved courses, seminars or conferences?

In collaboration with IRAS, here are some common tax reliefs for the 2024 tax season.

General reliefs for all taxpayers

	Earned Income Relief For individuals who are gainfully employed or are carrying on a trade, business, profession or vocation
	Parent/Handicapped Parent Relief Given to individuals who supported their parents, grandparents, parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law in 2023
	Handicapped Brother/Sister Relief Given to individuals who supported their handicapped siblings or siblings-in-law in 2023
	CPF Relief For employees and self-employed persons who made qualifying contributions to their CPF and MediSave accounts in 2023
	Life Insurance Relief For individuals who paid insurance premiums in 2023 on their own or their wife’s life insurance policy
	Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) For individuals who made SRS contributions in 2023
	CPF Cash Top-Up Relief For individuals who topped up their own or family members’ CPF Special/Retirement Account and/or MediSave account in 2023
	Course Fees Relief For individuals who attended approved courses, seminars or conferences in 2023
	NSman Relief Given to all eligible operationally-ready National Servicemen (NSmen)

Additional reliefs

On top of general reliefs, which are available to all taxpayers, there are additional reliefs that might be applicable to you.

For married/divorced/widowed taxpayers

MALE AND FEMALE TAXPAYERS	FEMALE TAXPAYERS
Spouse Relief/Handicapped Spouse Relief Given to individuals who supported their spouse in 2023	Working Mother's Child Relief (WMCR) Given to working mothers who had taxable earned income and maintained a Singapore Citizen child (eligible for Qualifying/Handicapped Child Relief) in 2023
Qualifying Child Relief (QCR)/Handicapped Child Relief (HCR) Given to parents who are raising and/or maintaining children	Grandparent Caregiver Relief For working mothers who engage the help of their parents/ grandparents (including in-laws) to take care of their children who is a Singapore Citizen aged 12 and below in 2023. No age limit for unmarried child who is physically/mentally disabled.
NSman Parent Relief Given to parents of eligible operationally-ready National Servicemen	Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Relief For married women (including divorcees and widows with children eligible for child relief) who had taxable earned income and employed a foreign domestic worker in 2023
	NSman Wife Relief Given to wives of eligible operationally-ready National Servicemen

Use IRAS’ personal relief checker to easily find out what tax relief you may claim.

Available deductions

Deductions, which are amounts that can be subtracted from taxable income, can help you to maximise your tax savings too.

Deductions on employment expenses

Claim deductions on employment expenses incurred while carrying out official duties which were not reimbursed by your employer.

For those who were required by your employer to work from home with resulting home office expenses that are not reimbursed by your employer, you can claim these expenses as a tax deduction. Supporting documents must be kept and submitted if requested.

Deductions on business expenses

For the self-employed, claim deductions on allowable business expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in the course of carrying on a trade/business.

Deductions on rental expenses

Claim tax deduction on actual expenses incurred or 15% deemed rental expenses + mortgage loan interest incurred in producing the rental income on your property.

Deductions on donations

Tax deductions of 2.5 times the amount of donations made to an Institute of Public Characters (IPCs) in 2023.

Parenthood Tax Rebate (PTR)

Given to eligible parents as credit to offset the income tax payable. PTR can be shared with your spouse based on an agreed apportionment. Any unutilised balance will automatically be carried forward to offset your and your spouse’s future income tax payable.

Which tax reliefs are available for you?

For individuals and families, here’s a quick look at the key reliefs in Singapore that will help to boost savings on your final tax bill for Year of Assessment (YA) 2024.

Doing so will help to enhance your cashflows. In collaboration with IRAS, we highlight 2 worked examples.

For individuals

Lisa (aged 31) is a Singaporean and earned S$70,000 as a self-employed person in 2023. She is supporting her father who is blind, and her mother (aged 57) who is a housewife, even though her mother is not living with her.

In 2023, she topped up S$4,200 and S$4,500 to her grandmother’s and grandfather’s CPF Retirement accounts respectively. She also attended an S$8,800 course relating to her profession that she self-funded.

Personal Tax Reliefs applicable to Lisa
- Earned Income Relief	S$1,000 (auto-included)
- Handicapped Parent Relief (for father)	S$14,000
- Parent Relief (for mother)	S$5,500
- CPF Relief	S$14,000
- CPF Cash Top Up Relief	$8,000 (auto-included, and capped at max S$8,000)
- Course Fee Relief	S$5,500 (capped at max of S$5,500)
Total Reliefs	S$48,000
Total Chargeable Income	S$22,000 (S$70,000 - S$48,000)
Tax Payable on Chargeable Income
Tax on the first S$20,000	S$0
Tax on the remaining S$2,000 (income tax rate of 2%)	S$40
Lisa’s Net Tax Payable for Year of Assessment 2024	$40

How it works out

Lisa can claim Handicapped Parent Relief (S$14,000) on her father who is staying with her. Though her mother is not living with her, she can claim Parent Relief (S$5,500) on her mother who is 55 and above, assuming she incurred S$2,000 or more in supporting her in 2023 and her mother’s annual income is not more than S$4,000.

Additional tips:

If Lisa’s mother is staying with her sibling and this sibling is also claiming Parent Relief on their mother, both can share the Parent Relief of S$9,000. In this case, she can maximise her Parent Relief claim from S$5,500 to a shared amount of up to S$9,000.

As Lisa made CPF cash top-ups for her grandparents in 2023, she can claim CPF Cash Top Up Relief capped at a maximum of S$8,000.

In addition, she will be able to claim the maximum Course Fees Relief of S$5,500.

For families

Mr and Mrs Tan both work full time. Mrs Tan (aged 37) is a Singaporean and earned S$125,000 as an employee in 2023.

The couple live with Mr Tan’s parents, who help to look after their Singapore Citizen children, aged 8 and 11 years old. They employ a foreign domestic worker. Mrs Tan also contributed S$5,000 to her SRS account with DBS in 2023.

Personal Tax Reliefs applicable to Mrs Tan
- Earned Income Relief	S$1,000 (auto-included)
- Qualifying Child Relief	S$2,000
- CPF Relief	S$20,400
- NSman Relief (for wife)	S$750 (auto-included)
- Working Mother’s Child Relief (1^st child)	S$18,750 (15% x S125,000)
- Working Mother’s Child Relief (2^nd child)	S$25,000 (20% x $125,000)
- Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Relief	S$1,440 (S$60 X 12 mths X 2 times)
- Grandparent Caregiver Relief	S$3,000
- Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) Relief	S$5,000
Total Reliefs	S$77,340
Total Chargeable Income	S$47,660 (S$125,000 - S$77,340)
Tax Payable on Chargeable Income
Tax on the first S$40,000	S$550
Tax on the remaining S$7,660 (income tax rate of 7%)	S$536.20
Mrs Tan’s Net Tax Payable for Year of Assessment 2024	S$1,086.20

How it works out

As her children are below 16 years of age, she can claim Qualifying Child Relief (QCR) of S$4,000 per child. Mrs Tan decides to share this relief with her husband at an agreed apportionment of 1:3 and makes a claim of $2,000. (¼ X S$4,000 per child X 2 children).

In addition, she can claim Working Mother’s Child Relief(WMCF) calculated based on 15% and 20% of her earned income for her first and second child respectively in view that her children are both Singapore Citizen and qualifies for QCR.

She also enjoys Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Relief of S$1,440 (S$60 x 12 months x 2 times), which is twice the total foreign domestic worker levy she paid in 2023.

As her children were aged 12 in 2023, she can claim Grandparent Caregiver Relief of S$3,000.

Mrs Tan will also be entitled to a SRS Relief of S$5,000.

When claiming tax reliefs, do bear in mind that there is a total personal income tax relief cap of S$80,000.

Claiming personal reliefs incorrectly may lead to penalties

IRAS reminds taxpayers to claim personal reliefs only if they meet the qualifying conditions for the reliefs.

If you are e-Filing, personal reliefs that you claimed and were granted last year would usually be automatically included in your tax return. Please check and remove the relief claims if you are no longer eligible for them. Penalties may be imposed for any incorrect claim of relief.

Tips on claiming personal reliefs

Avoid wrongful claims of personal reliefs by checking if you meet the qualifying conditions for each one. You can also use the personal relief checker available on the IRAS website.

Changes to WMCR in year 2025

Do note that from 2025, the WMCR will change from a percentage of earned income to a fixed sum.

For working mothers with Singaporean children born or adopted from Jan 1, 2024, eligible working mothers will be able to claim S$8,000 in tax relief for their first child, S$10,000 for their second and S$12,000 each for their third and beyond.

The changes will take effect from the Year of Assessment 2025, which would take into account earnings from 2024.

For working mothers with Singaporean children born or adopted before Jan 1, 2024, there will be no changes to their Working Mother’s Child Relief. They can continue to claim it based on the existing scheme.

Find out more: Tax Season 2024 - All you need to know

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Disclaimers and Important Notice
This article is meant for information only and should not be relied upon as financial advice. Before making any decision to buy, sell or hold any investment or insurance product, you should seek advice from a financial adviser regarding its suitability.