OVER 1,600 tax agents will get subsidies for training courses from a new $1.3 million fund which has been set up to encourage more tax professionals to hone their expertise.

Small tax agent firms stand to gain from this fund as they may not have enough resources to put all their staff through structured training programmes, unlike the big four accounting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young have done.

Recognising the need to help all tax agents go for essential training, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (Icpas) announced on Friday they will offer subsidies ranging from 15 per cent to 65 per cent for basic and intermediate GST and income tax courses offered by the Tax Academy.

IRAS will contribute $1 million to offer 50 per cent subsidies for firms with about 50 staff. These companies employ about 3,200 tax professionals in total.

Icpas will contribute an additional $300,000 to offer subsidies of 15 per cent for members.

So a small company like RSM Chio Lim, which has 40 staff, will get subsidies of up to 65 per cent of course fees. This can save the firm about $120 for each staff taking a course.

Ms Mak Oi Leng, the tax director of RSM Chio Lim, welcomed the new fund as a 'pleasant surprise' which will benefit the industry.

The new fund was announced on Friday by Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, who gave the opening address at a seminar on regional perspectives on transfer pricing at the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

She told the 200 participants that IRAS is taking steps to support tax agents in ensuring tax compliance by businesses. About half of the 130,000 corporate taxpayers in Singapore are represented by tax agents.

The new fund, which kicks in next January, will hopefully 'encourage tax agents to upgrade themselves continually', she said.

IRAS will also provide more services and tools to facilitate the tax agents in their work, she added.

This includes a tax agent website and database to disseminate the latest tax information, and to update tax agents about the latest seminars, workshops and focus groups available.

'In the process, IRAS hopes to engage a larger group of tax agents through these channels and have more regular tax agents dialogues,' she said.