Singapore tables amendment bills for law training, tax relief, CPF

THREE bills to make amendments to legislation – for the training regime for lawyers, income tax relief and Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) – were introduced in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3).

The Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill, if passed, will give effect to previously-deferred implementation of recommendations made by the Committee for the Professional Training of Lawyers, from the 2024 session of Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations.

The Ministry of Law had in 2018 announced that it accepted these recommendations in principle.

The recommendations include uncoupling admission to the Bar from the completion of a practice training contact; lengthening the practice training period to one year, from six months; and conferring on practice trainees limited rights to practise after six months of training.

The Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) (Amendment) Bill – for which the President’s recommendation has been signified – seeks to extend the approval periods for certain incentive schemes under the Act and enhance the powers of the Minister for Finance and Minister for Trade and Industry in their administration of the Act’s incentive schemes, among other purposes. The bill also makes consequential amendments to the Income Tax Act 1947.

Meanwhile, the Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill proposes administrative changes to CPF.

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These include limiting CPF schemes primarily to citizens and permanent residents; allowing the CPF board to disclose certain information about CPF members following their death to those entitled to receive any amount payable; and clarifying transactions that the board may continue to carry out for deceased CPF members.

The latter two bills will involve the spending of public money. More details will be made available when they are read for the second time in Parliament.