Iras collected S$43.4b in tax revenue in FY14/15, 4.4% higher than a year ago

IN its financial year 2014/15, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) collected a total of S$43.4 billion in tax revenue, 4.4 per cent higher than the collection in FY2013/14.

This amount represents 71.3 per cent of the government operating revenue, it said.

The bulk of its tax revenue was income tax - which includes corporate income tax, individual income tax and withholding tax. At S$23.4 billion, it made up 54 per cent of Iras' collection in FY14/15.

Two factors contributed to the higher income tax collected: (1) improved corporate profits which raised corporate income tax collection by 5.4 per cent year on year; and (2) higher individual earnings which led to a 16 per cent increase in individual income tax collection.

A moderate growth in private consumption expenditure drove an increase in GST collection, from S$9.5 billion in FY13/14 to S$10.2 billion in FY14/15, a rise of 7.4 per cent.

Stamp duty collection decreased from S$3.9 billion in FY13/14 to S$2.8 billion in FY14/15, due to a smaller volume of property transactions in the wake of property market cooling measures.

Some S$2.6 billion in betting taxes were collected in FY14/15, up 8.9 per cent from the previous fiscal year, due to higher collections following the upward revision of the betting duty rate from July last year.