IRAS collected S$47b in tax revenue in FY2017; up nearly 5% from a year ago

THE Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) collected S$47 billion in tax revenue in the fiscal year 2017, close to 5 per cent more than a year ago.

IRAS' collection accounts for 68.2 per cent of the Singapore's Government Operating Revenue (GOR). This amount accounted for 11.3 per cent of Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

IRAS' collection comprises a mix of direct and indirect taxes - taxes on income, Goods and Services Tax (GST), property tax, stamp duty and betting taxes. Other sources of the GOR include customs and excise duties, taxes on motor vehicles, vehicle quota premiums, other taxes, fees, charges and receipts.

In FY2017, income tax comprising corporate income tax, individual income tax and withholding tax made up 54 per cent of IRAS' collection. The amount collected was S$1.1 billion over the previous financial year due to higher collection from individual income tax.

Contributing to the increase were higher individual earnings and the cessation of one-off personal tax rebates given in YA2015.

GST collection increased to S$11.1 billion in FY2016/17 from S$10.3 billion a year ago. Property tax collection decreased marginally by 2.1 per cent to S$4.4 billion. Stamp duty collection was S$3.3 billion, 18.4 per cent more than a year ago due to a higher number of property transactions.

Betting taxes comprising betting duty, casino tax and private lotteries duty amounted to S$2.7 billion, 1.4 per cent lower than a year ago.

"The increase in revenue collection was supported by the expansion of Singapore's economy by 2 per cent in 2016 and the low unemployment rate of 2.1 per cent," IRAS said in its Annual Report 2016/17 issued on Thursday.

Cost of collection remained low at 0.84 cents for every dollar collected. It said tax compliance in Singapore remained high and tax arrears was kept low at 0.68 per cent of net tax assessed. In FY 2016/17, the tax man uncovered 10,626 non-compliant cases and recovered about S$332 million in taxes and penalties through rigorous audits and investigations.

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