Proposed tax on gains from sale of foreign assets won’t hurt most companies, but may affect investment vehicles: experts

A PROPOSED change by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to tax certain gains from the sale of foreign assets may require companies to consider the best place to receive such gains. However, experts said this is likely to affect just a few multinational enterprises (MNEs).

This is because the proposed amendment affects only companies that have entities without economic substance in Singapore, but hold foreign assets. If they sell those assets and receive the gains here, they may be taxed.

There is, however, some uncertainty about the impact on investment vehicles.