GuideMeSingapore

The Singapore government has passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) Bill, to align its tax regime in accordance with the OECD Standard for the exchange of information for tax purposes.

Before the law came into effect, the Singapore tax authorities could only provide banking and trust information to foreign jurisdictions for the purposes of investigating or prosecuting a suspected domestic tax offence. The amended law now lifts the domestic interest condition. However, the Bill safeguards taxpayers rights and will not entertain spurious requests.

Under the amended law, information on customs duty, VAT, inheritance tax and stamp duty can also be exchanged between countries.

Earlier this year, Singapore was grey listed by the OECD for only having committed to its tax standard but not substantially implementing it. Being on the grey list could potentially damage Singapore’s reputation as a trusted and responsible business and financial center. Consequently, the government has taken steps to comply with the international tax standard. It has re-negotiated 11 double taxation agreements till date and is expected to re-negotiate 9 more in the months to come. This is well beyond the OECD’s minimum requirement of re-negotiating at least 12 DTAs.

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