Dear Reader,
Welcome to our E-Newsletter October 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:
> Tax treatment of insurance premiums/specific expenses (10 Sep 2013)
Company Director Jailed for Fraudulent PIC Claims
19 Sep 2013 – A company director was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail for fraudulently claiming a Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) cash payout of $58,143.60 for his company. This is the first PIC prosecution case since the scheme was introduced in 2010.
A man aged of 34 is a Director of a computer equipment and hardware wholesaler and computer memory modules distributor. He is the first director to be charged under section 37J(4)(b) of the Income Tax Act for wilful intent to assist a company in fraud, by obtaining a cash payout which it was not entitled to. He was ordered by the court to pay a penalty of $232,574.40 for the crime.
The court also ordered the company to pay a fine of $10,000 and a penalty of $232,574.40. The penalty is four times the amount of cash payout that it had fraudulently claimed.
PART 2 REGULATORY & BUSINESS
Monthly salary for new employment pass is raised
The qualifying monthly salary for new employment pass (EP) applications will be raised from S$3,000 to S$3,300 from January 1, 2014.
Besides, on 23 September 2013, new rules that require Firms to Consider Singaporeans Fairly for Jobs before hiring Employment Pass (EP) holders are announced. Firms with discriminatory hiring practices will be subject to additional scrutiny and may have their work pass privileges curtailed. These changes will reinforce expectations for employers to consider Singaporeans fairly for job opportunities and enhance job market transparency.
All firms are expected to consider Singaporeans fairly for jobs, based on merit. All firms are strongly encouraged to advertise their job vacancies and must ensure that jobs advertised are open to Singaporeans.
Firms making new EP applications must advertise the job vacancy on a new jobs bank administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). The advertisement must be open to Singaporeans, comply with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices4, and run for at least 14 calendar days.
These requirements must be met before an EP application is submitted to MOM. These new rules will come into effect on 1 August 2014.
PART 3 FINANCIAL REPORTING
ACRA Announces Revised XBRL Filing Requirement and Releases New XBRL Preparation Tool for Companies
ACRA announced on 28 August 2013 that the revised XBRL filing requirements will be implemented from 22 October 2013. Replacing the online FS Manager will be a new offline tool, BizFinx, for preparing XBRL financial statements and the BizFinx Portal, for submitting the Annual Returns together with these financial statements.
