SINGAPORE - The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) announced several measures to make filing individual income tax returns more convenient this year.
Taxpayers can file their taxes via smartphone from March this year. With this, filing can be done easily from anywhere, anytime and taxpayers can avoid a last minute rush, said Iras.
They can also check on-the-spot if they are eligible for certain personal reliefs such as the Qualifying Child Relief and Grandparent Caregiver Relief.
Taxpayers who wish to claim rental expenses for their tenanted residential properties will enjoy simplified tax filing. Pre-filled on their online tax forms will be the amount of deemed rental expenses calculated based on 15 per cent of the gross rent.
Iras also said that more than 210 organisations this year would have have submitted their commission earners' income records under the e-Submission of Commission Income Scheme.
This means that more than 70,000 commission-earners - real estate agents and insurance agents included - will have an easier time filing their taxes as they would just need to verify or edit the pre-filled income information and claim their expenses.
Some 1.4 million taxpayers who are not required to file can preview their tax bill and request an early assessment from this month. This is provided they have no changes to their pre-filled income and relief claims. In 2015, 14,000 taxpayers requested early assessment.
The deadline for filing your taxes is April 15 for paper returns, or April 18 if you are doing it online.
