The formal notice and reporting year
Gazette notice 4410, published 31 July 2026 under Income Tax Act section 68(2), requires prescribed returns for persons employed in Singapore at any time in 2026. The deadline is 1 March 2027. Counting only current employees at year-end would omit people who worked earlier or received later employment-related income.
All seven person categories
The categories are full-time resident employees, part-time resident employees, non-resident employees including overseas-based people rendering Singapore services, directors including non-resident directors, board members receiving board/committee fees, pensioners, and people who left but received 2026 income such as option gains. Directors and people engaged in company management are deemed employed; a manager or principal officer is deemed the employer for a company/body of persons. Representatives of overseas employers report themselves and other employees.
Avoid duplicating IR21-cleared non-resident income
Exclude non-resident employment income already submitted for tax clearance through IR21 from IR8A. If those employees have only income already cleared through IR21, no IR8A is required for them under this paragraph. This is an income-specific clearance exception, not a blanket omission of every non-resident employee.
Mandatory and voluntary AIS registration
Employers with five or more covered persons in total over the whole year ending 31 December 2026, or who received a notice to file electronically, must register for AIS and submit correct, complete electronic returns in the specified format. Employers outside that group who registered by 1 March 2027 and remain registered that day must also report electronically. Others complete one copy and give it to the covered person.
Deadline and statutory consequence
All three reporting routes must be completed no later than 1 March 2027. On conviction, non-compliance carries a fine up to S$5,000 and, in default of payment, imprisonment up to six months under section 94. The imprisonment described is in default of fine payment; do not present it as an inevitable additional sentence for every late return.
Residence and Singapore source
The notice describes residence in the preceding year, allowing reasonable temporary absence consistent with residence, and includes physical presence or employment other than directorship for at least 183 days. Remuneration for employment exercised in Singapore is Singapore-derived whether paid here or elsewhere. The 183-day employment limb explicitly excludes company directorship.
Forms and appendices
IR8A reports employee remuneration; Appendix 8A covers benefits in kind; Appendix 8B covers employment-related options and share ownership gains. Appendix 8B is completed and submitted to IRAS for citizens or permanent residents who ceased employment or were posted overseas in 2026. Download the year-ended-2026 forms and notes from the AIS reporting section, rather than reusing a form carrying another year.
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 ↗