IRAS tax collection up 4.4% to S$52.4b in fiscal 2018/2019

THE Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) collected S$52.4 billion in tax revenue in the fiscal year 2018/2019, up 4.4 per cent from a year ago.

The increase was underpinned by Singapore's 3.1 per cent economic expansion in 2018, IRAS said on Monday in its annual report.

IRAS's collection accounted for 71.1 per cent of government operating revenue (GOR), and also 10.6 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP).

Out of that amount, total income taxes made up 56 per cent of IRAS's collection in the period. This comprises corporate income tax, individual income tax and withholding tax.

Income taxes collected in the period amounted to S$29.4 billion, up 7.9 per cent from S$27.2 billion collected in the fiscal 2017/2018 period.

Corporate income tax collection, which makes up 31 per cent of total tax collection, rose 7.3 per cent to S$16.1 billion from S$15.0 billion the year before on better corporate earnings.

Meanwhile, individual income tax - which makes up 22 per cent of total tax collection - increased 9.3 per cent to S$11.7 billion from S$10.7 billion the year prior due to the introduction of an overall relief cap of S$80,000 per year of assessment (YA) in YA2018, and the cessation of one-off personal tax rebate in YA2017.

Goods and services tax (GST) collection, which makes up 21 per cent of total tax collection, saw a marginal increase of 1.6 per cent to S$11.1 billion from S$11.0 billion a year ago. This was in line with the growth observed in private consumption expenditure in 2018.

Property tax collection for the period was S$4.6 billion, down 4.7 per cent from S$4.4 billion the year before from a lower number of property transactions. (see amendment note)

Betting taxes, which consist of betting duty, casino tax and private lotteries duty, was at S$2.66 billion, down 0.9 per cent from S$2.69 billion a year ago. (see amendment note)

The cost of tax collection remained low at 0.80 cent for every dollar collected.

"Tax revenue collected supported funding of key government programmes to build an innovative and connected economy, a quality living environment and a caring and inclusive society," IRAS said.

Amendment note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the amounts collected for property and betting taxes. The article has been amended to reflect the changes.