Income Tax Exemptions

List of benefits-in-kind granted administrative concession or exempt from Singapore income tax for companies and personal income tax for employees working in Singapore.
Source: Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

Types of benefits Comments
1 Benefits that foster goodwill or promote camaraderie among staff The benefits should be generally available to all staff in order to achieve the objective of fostering good relationship among the staff and it is difficult to assign a specific value to each employee.
a) Sponsored group outings (exclude subsidised holiday trips overseas)
b) Family Day events
c) Corporate Dinner & Dance (including door gifts and lucky draw prizes)
d) Provision of social or recreational facilities (free or subsidised) For (d), prior to Year of Assessment (YA) 2008, the concession to exempt the benefit applied only to those facilities provided by the employer.
With effect from YA 2008, this concession is extended to the facilities provided by third-party vendors from which the employer subscribes a corporate membership. Concession is confined to use of gym, sports venues, holiday chalets, BBQ pits.

Concession does not apply where an employer has corporate country club membership and extends the usage of the country club facilities to all employees, not withstanding that the country club provides gym, sports venues and BBQ pits, etc.

e) Corporate gifts like mugs, T-shirts
f) Free or subsidised food and drinks For (f) and (g), the concession applies to benefits provided on and after 1 Jan 2004.
g) Free transport between pick-up points and the place of work
h) Corporate passes to places of interests in Singapore Concession is effective from YA 2008.
2 Benefits/ perquisites relating to employee's health (free or subsidised) This concession refers only to the medical bills of the employee, employee's spouse and children.
The benefits must be made available to all staff.

a) Outpatient treatment
b) Hospitalisation
c) Dental
3 Benefits/ perquisites given to promote creativity and innovation These are in line with the government's efforts to promote innovation and continuous improvement.
a) Staff suggestion
b) QAC/ WITS award
4 Benefits/ perquisites given to encourage upgrading of skills and knowledge building The benefit is not taxable on the basis that this is part of training provided by the employer and the benefits are available to all staff.
a) Subsidies for course fees
b) Training fees for staff development
c) Scholarships awards
d) Examination fees
5 Gifts (cash/ non-cash) for: These gifts must be generally available to all staff and not substantial in value.
As a guide, a gift not exceeding $100 is considered to be not substantial in value. If the gift exceeds the exemption threshold, the whole value is taxable in full.

With effect from YA 2008, the amount has been increased to $200.

For bereavement, there is no exemption threshold. The whole amount is not taxable.

a) Special occasions like birthdays, weddings, births of child and bereavement
b) Festive season like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas
6 Childcare subsidy provided by employers to employees who send their children to licensed childcare centres
7 Death gratuities/Disability payments/Workmen compensation
8 a) Entrance fees for professional, social or recreational club membership where employer joins as corporate member and allows some of its employees to enjoy the use of facilities in private clubs
b) Club subscriptions paid by the company for employees' official or business use (e.g. to entertain company's clients)
9 Insurance premium of the following:
a) Premium where the employer is the beneficiary of the policy Where no beneficiary is named, the employer is the policyholder.
b) Premium of group medical insurance The benefits should be generally available to all staff.
Concession for (b) applies regardless of who the named beneficiary is. This is effective from YA 2008.

10 Interest benefits arising from interest-free or subsidised interest loans provided by employers to employees, for example: The benefits should be generally available to all employees.
Employees must not have substantial shareholdings, or control or influence over the company.

This concession does not cover interest rate subsidies granted by the employer in respect of commercial loans obtained from financial institutions.

a) Housing loan
b) Vehicle loan
c) Computer loan
d) Renovation loan
e) Personal loan
11 Laptops, palmtops and mobile phones provided by the employer for official/business purposes
12 Awards:
a) Retirement award (non-cash) For (a) and (b), the award is not taxable if it is symbolic and a token of little or commercial value.
As a guide, an award not exceeding $100 is considered to be not substantial in value. If the award exceeds the exemption threshold, the whole value is taxable.

With effect from YA 2008, the amount has been increased from $100 to $200.

b) Long service award (non-cash)
c) Service Excellence Award (cash/ non-cash) With effect from YA 2008, this award granted to an employee in recognition of the good service provided is not taxable provided the value of the benefit does not exceed $200. If the award exceeds the exemption threshold, the whole value is taxable.
d) Zero or low Medical Certificate Award (cash/ non-cash)
e) Award for passing of examination (cash/ non-cash)

With effect from YA 2008, the award is not taxable provided the value of the benefit does not exceed $200. If the award exceeds the exemption threshold, the whole value is taxable.
13 Staff uniforms The uniform has to be worn as a job requirement and for corporate identity.
14 Overtime meal allowance and reimbursement Payments made to employees for working beyond official working hours on ad-hoc basis are not taxable, provided that the overtime meal allowance/reimbursements policy is generally available to all staff. This is effective from YA 2006.
Fixed monthly payments remain taxable.

15 Transport-related payments: Fixed monthly payments remain taxable.
a) Reimbursement of transport expenses to attend meetings or visit clients for official or business purposes These payments are not taxable if they are incurred to enable the employees to discharge their official duties, for example, travelling from office to client's place, travelling from the place of one client to another.
b) Overtime transport payment (allowance and reimbursement) Payments made to employees for working beyond official working hours on an ad-hoc basis due to exigencies of work, provided that the payments are generally available to all staff. This is effective from YA 2006.
c) Transport payments for trips to/ from home and airport in respect of overseas business trips For (c) and (d), reimbursements are not taxable.
With effect from YA 2008, per-trip allowance for an actual trip made is not taxable.

d) Transport payments for trips to/ from home to business venue meetings if the travel is for business purposes
16 Private benefit, including reimbursement of car park charges and petrol, derived by drivers of commercial vehicles (e.g. motorcycles, vans, trucks, minibus, lorries) when drivers drive the vehicles home after work, and from home to the designated workplace This concession is effective from YA 2008.
17 Staff discount (excluding interest free or subsidized loans and discounted stock options or awards) offered by employers and its related entities, including discounts that are extended to the staff’s family members, relatives and friends New! With effect from YA2011, the staff discount granted is not taxable provided the value of the item of good or service offered does not exceed $500 and the staff discount is generally available to all staff.
If the value exceeds the exemption threshold, the whole value of the staff discount is taxable.