Boon Tan | 21 Jun 2017 | 1 min read
Overview of Tax Residence Rules
The Singapore Tax Act classifies taxpayers as either residents or non-residents. This is important because residents and nonresidents are taxed in a different manner.
Note that the concept of “domicile” is not relevant for Singapore income tax liability. “Residence” is the relevant test and this is defined under Section 2 of the Singapore Tax Act.
The definition includes a “qualitative test” as an individual who “resides” in Singapore in the year preceding the year of assessment is regarded as a tax resident in Singapore.
This turns on a number of factors. The term ‘reside’ is not statutorily defined and therefore it is to be given its ordinary meaning when interpreting Singapore law.