Reference checklist and two recommendation levels
The four-page list is dated 28 August 2026. It strongly encourages vendors to build controls but calls the list reference-only. “Should Have” and “Good to Have” are distinct columns, not a statement that all 24 entries are mandatory law. Compare actual software features and the IRAS vendor list when selecting a product.
Controls 1–6: preparing data
Should Have 1: all mandatory/optional technical fields, without automatically marking remuneration non-taxable. 2: transfer Appendix 8A/8B values into correct IR8A fields, such as benefits into d8. 3: correctly tag each component. Good to Have 4: edit source payroll then regenerate, rather than edit generated forms. 5: specific/all-employee amendment using differences or replacement values, supporting current year, four previous years and one advance year. 6: automatic current-treatment benefit calculations such as furniture and cars.
Controls 7–12: CPF, access and documentation
Should Have 7: compulsory CPF by applicable rates, age and residence. Good to Have 8: calculate excess employer CPF into IR8A d6 and exclude excess/voluntary employee CPF from compulsory contribution. Should Have 9: need-based permissions, logins/passwords and audit trail. 10: only authorised users can submit direct API. 11: payroll backup procedures. Good to Have 12: help tool or manual.
Controls 13–15: reports and acknowledgement
Should Have 13: submission summary, paid-versus-tax-reported remuneration reconciliation, and verification of taxable/non-taxable classification plus excess CPF. Should Have 14: identify each error/warning record and message, and output success acknowledgement number, organisation name/tax number, YA, file type Original/Amendment/Revision, record count, submission date/time and user. Good to Have 15: submission logs with employee details and instructions to check status in myTax Portal. A success message should retain its actual acknowledgement, not just a generic tick.
Controls 16–20: useful prompts
Should Have 16: warnings/action prompts using bypassWarning. Good to Have 17: prompt voluntary-disclosure FormSG for prior-year amendments. 18: foreign-employee cessation prompts IR21 and alerts against submitting that record as IR8A after IR21. 19: prompt Appendix 8A for benefits in kind. 20: prompt Appendix 8B for ESOP/ESOW gains. These reminders support correct decisions; the checklist is not a substitute for assessing the actual clearance conditions.
Controls 21–24 and implementation
All Good to Have: 21 prompt refund claims for excess CPF; 22 detect duplicate employees; 23 retain a data copy before submission; 24 guide amendment submissions through the IRAS amendment instructions. The original references go.gov.sg/vd-errors-individuals-excluding-self-employed and go.gov.sg/iras-ais-amend. Verify a vendor’s implementation, backup/reconciliation workflow and authorised-user controls; the list supplies no certification promise or product warranty.
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 ↗