18 February 2022

Foreword

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters the third year and the global economies are slowly opening up, this year’s Budget seeks to position Singapore for the opportunities and challenges in the post-pandemic world. The Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement said that this year’s Budget “is about charting our new way forward together”.

In keeping with this theme, the Budget sets out the key changes to:

1. Invest in new capabilities;
2. Advance Singapore’s green transition;
3. Renew and strengthen Singapore’s social compact; and
4. Develop a fairer and more resilient revenue structure.

While the Budget is forward looking, immediate concerns were also addressed. To provide continued targeted support to households, businesses and workers to mitigate the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, several support packages were introduced. For example, a S$560 million Household Support Package was unveiled to help Singaporeans with their utility bills, children’s education and daily essentials. In addition, several existing measures such as the Jobs Growth Incentive were enhanced or extended.

Instead of a new wealth tax that is practically difficult to administer in its pure form, several tweaks have been introduced to the existing tax regime to make the tax system more progressive such that the more well-off contribute a larger share to the tax revenue. However, these changes do not rock Singapore’s status as a wealth management hub.

Below are some of the key tax highlights of this year’s Budget:

• No change to the corporate income tax rate. However, In response to the global minimum effective tax rate under the Pillar 2 Global Anti-Base Erosion rules of the BEPS 2.0 project, the Ministry of Finance (“MOF”) is exploring a top-up tax called the minimum effective tax rate or “METR”.
• The GST will be raised to 8% from 1 January 2023 and to 9% from 1 January 2024.
• Personal income tax rates will be made more progressive by introducing two additional top tier rates with effect from the Year of Assessment (”YA”) 2024. Also, from YA 2024, the income tax rate for non-resident individuals (except on employment income and certain income taxable at reduced withholding rates) will be raised from 22% to 24%.
• The progressive property tax rates for both owner-occupied and non-owner occupied residential properties will be revised.
• A new Additional Registration Fee (ARF) tier for vehicles with Open Market Value (OMV) exceeding S$80,000 has been introduced. The portion of a vehicle's OMV exceeding S$80,000 will be taxed at 220%.

In the following pages of this online newsletter, we have summarised the key tax and non-tax changes affecting businesses and individuals. In addition, links to useful external resources from the MOF, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), Economic Development Board (EDB) and other government agencies have been provided where applicable.

Explore Crowe Singapore’s Resource Centre for Budget 2022 by navigating the links below.

Resource Centre Contents

Corporate Tax

Individual Tax

Goods & Services Tax

Property Tax

Vehicle Tax

Grants, Funding & Other Support

Other Changes

Videos

“This year’s Budget addresses the need to increase our revenue base in view of higher recurrent spending in key areas like healthcare & infrastructure, and external pressures such as the Pillar 2 GloBE rules. The approach in doing this has been practical and has balanced the need to keep our economy open and competitive to attract talent and investments.“

 - Sivakumar Saravan, Senior Partner & Head of Tax

This resource centre will be updated with new information and clarifications provided by IRAS and other government agencies on the key measures announced in the Budget 2022. Visit again to check out latest developments.

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Useful Links

MOF Budget Booklet

MOF Budget Summary

IRAS Budget Overview

Crowe Resources

Tax Insights

The Art of Smart

Blog

Videos

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