Dear Reader,
Welcome to our E-Newsletter November 2013
PART 1 TAXATION
The Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (SIATP) has issued the new Tax Alerts on Tax News since the previous issue of the 3E E-Newsletter.
The few key alerts are highlighted as below:
– Updates on Minimum Ownership Period for PIC IT and Automation Equipment and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) (11 Oct 2013)
Manager faced hefty penalty for unlawful collection of GST
25 Oct 2013 – A manager at a international company, flouted the law when he unlawfully charged Goods and Services Tax (GST) on a total of 1,095 sales invoices issued to his customers.
He pleaded guilty to the 64 charges proceeded on. For unlawfully charging $19,772.80 as GST, he has to pay $136,118.40 in penalties and fines, which is more than 6 times the amount of GST. In default of paying $136,118.40, he has to serve a total of 320 days of imprisonment. Another 260 similar charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.
In addition, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) compounded some of his offences for $81,760.78. This was twice the amount of GST wrongfully charged by him on the sales invoices.
PART 2 REGULATORY & BUSINESS
Creating a Job Ad in Singapore
Does your job ad comply with the new Fair Consideration Framework (FCF)? According to the FCF, all job ads must meet the requirements stated in the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices to find out whether your job ad is acceptable or not.
Employers who break CPF rules may face heavier penalties
Employers who do not pay, underpay or are late in contributing to their workers’ Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts could face stiffer penalties, including being jailed, under proposed amendments to the CPF Act tabled in Parliament on Monday.
Instead of the current S$2,500 maximum fine for a first offender, imprisonment of up to six months, as well as doubling the maximum fine to S$5,000 was proposed.
Public Consultation on Additional Proposed Amendments to the Companies Act
As part of the ongoing review of the Companies Act, the public are invited to provide feedback on the second part of the draft Companies (Amendment) Bill, as well as new areas of the Companies Act under review. The public consultation exercise will run from 23 October to 19 November 2013.
Enhancing the ability of the Registrar of Companies was porposed to hold non-compliant companies, directors and company secretaries more accountable.
Do Not Call Registry & Your Business
Starting from 2 January 2014, the Do Not Call (DNC) provisions under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) generally prohibits organisations from sending certain marketing messages (in the form of voice calls, text or fax messages) to Singapore telephone numbers, including mobile, fixed-line, residential and business numbers, registered with the DNC Registry.
PART 3 FINANCIAL REPORTING
Effective date for filing financials in full XBRL to 2 Dec 2013 is revised
The effective date for companies to start filing financials in full XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format has been revised from 22 October to 2 December 2013. This revision is in response to feedback for companies to be given additional preparation time as they get ready for the transition to full XBRL filing. Based on current filing cycles, most companies will likely file their financial statements in full XBRL only in 2014.
