Online application for Giro payments to benefit over two million taxpayers

MORE taxpayers may now apply for Giro payments online though a service launched by DBS and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras).

With this service called eGIRO, both individuals and businesses will be able to set up automatic payments for various taxes through Iras’ myTax Portal.

It cuts down on the handling of manual application forms and is expected to benefit more than two million Giro users in Singapore, DBS and Iras said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Oct 8).

Giro (or General Interbank Recurring Order) is a payment method in Singapore through which individuals and businesses automate recurring payments directly from their bank accounts.

Previously, corporate taxpayers were required to submit paper-based application forms for Giro payments, the processing of which took at least three weeks.

And individual taxpayers could arrange for eGIRO payments only if they had accounts with either of the two participating banks. This created more than 50,000 paper-based applications annually from both individuals and businesses.

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The expanded eGIRO system, supported by DBS, extends the eGIRO service to corporate taxpayers and raises the number of participating banks for individuals from two to seven.

Teo Chor Leng, assistant commissioner of revenue and corporate services division at Iras, said: “The digital application service enables taxpayers to conveniently set up Giro for payment of their taxes, doing away with traditional paper-based forms.”

With the digital service, taxpayers will be able to apply for Giro payments for individual income tax, corporate income tax, goods and services tax, property tax and withholding tax.

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eGIRO also has a provision for taxpayers to tap up to 12 interest-free instalments for individual income tax and property tax, and 10 instalments for corporate income tax.

DBS Singapore country head Han Kwee Juan said: “This initiative highlights our shared commitment to transforming the once-cumbersome process of setting up Giro-based tax payments into a seamless, hassle-free experience.”