Check the requirement and processing route
The three-page IRIN 112/E1-1/2026 notes direct employers to the Tax Clearance Calculator. If clearance is required, e-file at myTax Portal; most IR21s are processed within 21 days, faster electronically, but incomplete details or questions can extend this. Directives can be viewed three working days after processing. If clearance is not required, do not complete IR21, but still report prior-year income by IR8A/AIS by 1 March.
One-month notice and withholding all monies
File at least one month before a non-citizen employee ceases Singapore employment. The notes mention a 10-day grace period; if one-month notice is impossible, give reasons in D16, with shorter notice subject to acceptance and otherwise a fine up to S$5,000 possible. Withhold all monies from the day the employee announces cessation or the employer announces termination/overseas posting. Explain inability in D18; otherwise the employer may be liable for the employee’s tax. Do not equate processing within 21 days with permission to delay withholding.
Signatory and three filing types
IR21 and applicable appendices 1/2/3 require an authorised signatory: secretary/director, precedent partner, proprietor, manager, honorary secretary/treasurer, overseas-company representative or another authorised person, with name, designation and contact. Use black ink and NA where not applicable. Original is first filing; Additional reports extra income and extra withheld monies; Amended repeats all details and revised withholding, superseding every earlier IR21. If only withheld amount changes, send details through myTax Mail instead.
Arrival, cessation and last salary: every example
Unknown arrival may be blank/NA where the employee already worked in Singapore before joining. Cessation is official last service day, not pass cancellation or last day before unused leave. Resignation on 28 January 2025 with one-month notice means 27 February even if leave begins 18 February. Posting from 1 September 2024 means last local day 31 August. A 31 May 2025 resignation ending 30 June, with S$3,500 salary paid 26 May for 1–31 May, gives last-payment date 26 May, amount S$3,500 and that May period.
Employer-borne tax and calendar-year income
Employer-paid employee tax is itself taxable income. For partial bearing, identify remuneration/type covered, respective tax amounts, or reimbursement arrangement. Merely deducting tax or withholding salary for clearance is not employer-borne tax. Report Singapore dollars by calendar year: S$5,000 monthly from November 2024 through May 2025 produces S$10,000 for November–December 2024 and S$25,000 for January–May 2025. For nil income, attach a separate reason letter.
Bonuses, directors and termination payments
Non-contractual bonuses rescindable without legal consequence accrue on payment; record the last date where several were paid. Director fees accrue when voted/approved at AGM or EGM in the calendar year. Compensation for loss of employment is generally not taxable, but past-service components such as gratuity, notice pay and ex-gratia require separate review. Provide termination reasons, lump-sum calculation basis, relevant contract extract and termination agreement/letter when required, and give the employee a component/taxability breakdown.
Overseas pension contributions
Employer contributions to foreign pension/provident funds for Singapore employment are taxable even when made after cessation. The mandatory-overseas-fund concession ends from YA 2025: contributions from 1 January 2024 are taxable to the employee on contribution and deductible to the employer, reported in item 4(g). Do not retain the old concession for these later contributions.
Share gains and a wording inconsistency
Report employment-related gains as market value at exercise, vesting or restriction release less exercise/purchase price, with Appendix 2 total matching item 4(i). Grants from 1 January 2003 while in Singapore employment are taxable. Page 3 labels its no-vesting grant-year exception “ESOP”; the Appendix 8B notes instead specify ESOW grant versus ESOP exercise. This apparent wording inconsistency should be checked against the applicable plan and official share-plan guide, not silently used to tax all immediately exercisable options on grant.
Deemed exercise versus approved tracking
Without tracking approval, unexercised options/unvested shares at cessation use deemed gains in Appendix 2: closing price one month before cessation or grant date, whichever later, less exercise/purchase price. If that deemed date is Sunday/public holiday, use the last preceding trading day. With approved tracking of all unexercised/unvested plans, tick item 4(i), provide Appendix 3 and an undertaking to collect/pay tax; the deemed-exercise rule does not apply in that route.
Valuation and currency in Appendix 2
For SGX-listed acquired shares, the notes specify last done price on the listing date; for non-SGX shares without determinable market/arm’s-length value, net asset value. Convert foreign prices in columns (e)/(f) to Singapore dollars at actual exchange rate. If unavailable, use company in-house rates, local banks, locally circulated newspapers or reputable news agencies. These notes do not specify additional uniform currency values.
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
Read the official PDF ↗