You are a Singapore tax resident for a Year of Assessment (YA) if, in the previous calendar year, you were a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident who normally lives here, or a foreigner who stayed or worked in Singapore for at least 183 days. Foreign employees who fall short can still qualify under two IRAS administrative concessions: one for employment that straddles two calendar years, and one for a continuous stay across three consecutive years. Residency decides whether you pay progressive rates with reliefs or flat non-resident rates, so count your days carefully in the year you arrive and the year you leave.
Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms who offer cost-effective and efficient legal service and advice. This article is general information only and is not legal advice.
This guide is for foreign professionals on an Employment Pass, foreign founders working for their own Singapore company, and the employers and finance teams who handle their payroll and tax clearance.
Which year’s days count for which YA?
Singapore taxes individuals on a preceding-year basis. Income earned in calendar year 2025 is assessed in YA 2026, and your residency for YA 2026 depends on your days in Singapore during 2025. The question is never “am I resident now?” but “was I resident in the year the income was earned?”
When counting days, IRAS includes weekends and public holidays. Temporary absences, such as overseas leave, and incidental absences, such as business trips taken as part of your Singapore job, still count towards your period of employment. IRAS’s own examples count both the arrival and departure dates, so a stay from 1 April to 3 October 2025 is 186 days.
What are the ways to become a tax resident?
| Route | Who it applies to | What must be true |
|---|---|---|
| Normally resident | Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents | You normally reside in Singapore, apart from temporary absences. There is no day count. |
| 183-day test | Foreigners | You stayed or worked in Singapore for at least 183 days in the previous calendar year. |
| Two-year concession | Foreign employees who entered Singapore from 1 January 2007 | Your employment straddles two calendar years, and your employment period plus your presence immediately before and after it covers a continuous period of at least 183 days. Company directors, public entertainers and professionals are excluded. |
| Three-year concession | Foreigners who stay or work continuously | You stay or work in Singapore continuously for three consecutive years. You are resident for all three years even if the first and third years are under 183 days. |
| Work pass of at least one year | Foreign employees | IRAS may treat you as resident while your pass runs, but it reviews your status at tax clearance when the employment ends. If your actual stay was under 183 days, you are regarded as non-resident. |
The last row catches many people. Being treated as a resident during the year is provisional. When you leave, IRAS looks at the days you actually spent here and can reassess you.
I arrived in the middle of the year: am I resident?
Arriving mid-year is the most common reason a new Employment Pass holder fails the 183-day test in the first year. Whether that matters depends on how long you stay afterwards.
Example: Priya, a hypothetical marketing manager, arrives on 15 July 2025 and starts work for a Singapore company that day. From 15 July to 31 December 2025 she is in Singapore for 170 days, which is below 183.
- If she stays and keeps working through 2026 and leaves part-way through 2027, the three-year concession applies to her continuous stay. She is treated as resident for YA 2026, YA 2027 and YA 2028, even if 2025 and 2027 each have fewer than 183 days.
- If her contract ends and she leaves on 28 February 2026, her continuous stay is 170 days plus 59 days, or 229 days, and it straddles two calendar years. Under the two-year concession she is resident for both YA 2026 and YA 2027.
- If she had arrived on 15 July 2025 and left on 15 December 2025, the stay would not straddle two years and would be under 183 days. She would be a non-resident for YA 2026.
Because the concessions look at what happens in later years, your first assessment may be raised on a non-resident basis and revised once IRAS can see you met a concession. Keep your entry and exit records so you can show the continuous period.
I am leaving Singapore: how is my last year treated?
Departure creates two separate questions: your residency for the final year, and tax clearance.
Residency in the year you leave
If you leave part-way through a year, your days in that final year will often be below 183. The two-year concession can still make you resident for the final year if your employment straddles the two years and the continuous period is at least 183 days.
Example: Daniel, a hypothetical engineer, arrives on 1 February 2025 and leaves on 31 March 2026. He spends 334 days in Singapore in 2025 and 90 days in 2026. His employment straddles two calendar years and is continuous, so he is treated as resident for YA 2026 and YA 2027. Without the concession, his 2026 income would have been taxed at non-resident rates.
Tax clearance through Form IR21
When a foreign employee stops working in Singapore, goes on an overseas posting, or plans to leave Singapore for more than three months, the employer must file Form IR21 with IRAS at least one month before the relevant date and withhold the money due to the employee from the time it becomes aware of the cessation. IRAS reviews residency at this point, so day counts become important. IRAS lists situations where clearance is not needed, for example some short or low-income employments where the employee had no other Singapore employer in that year or the year before. Our guide to Form IR21 and tax clearance covers the employer’s side in detail.
What does a non-resident pay?
Non-residents do not get personal reliefs, and their rates depend on the type of income. From YA 2024, IRAS applies the following:
| Type of income | Tax resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| Employment income | Progressive rates from 0% to 24%, after personal reliefs | Flat 15% or the progressive resident rates, whichever gives the higher tax |
| Short-term employment of 60 days or less in a calendar year | Not applicable | Exempt, except for company directors, public entertainers and professionals |
| Director’s fees | Progressive rates | 24%, usually collected by the company through withholding tax |
| Other income, such as rental and pension | Progressive rates | 24% |
For someone on a modest salary the gap can be large: the first S$20,000 of a resident’s chargeable income is taxed at 0%, while a non-resident employee pays at least 15% from the first dollar. Full resident rate bands and reliefs are set out in our personal income tax guide.
Why does residency matter so much for directors?
Foreign founders are often both the director and an employee of their own Singapore company. That combination needs extra care for three reasons.
- The concessions may not help. IRAS excludes company directors from the two-year concession, and its earlier guidance also excluded directors from the three-year concession. A founder-director should plan on meeting the plain 183-day test rather than relying on a concession, and should confirm the position with IRAS if the facts are borderline.
- The 60-day exemption does not apply to director’s fees. A non-resident director who attends a few board meetings in Singapore is still taxed on director’s fees, even if the time spent here is short.
- The company must withhold. When a Singapore company pays director’s fees to a non-resident director, it generally has to withhold tax at 24% and pay it to IRAS. The mechanics are covered in our guide on director’s fees paid to a non-resident director.
How you draw money from your company also changes the outcome. Salary, director’s fees and dividends are taxed differently, and our comparison of director fees, salary and dividends explains the trade-offs.
How do I work out my own status?
- Identify the calendar year in which the income was earned. That year’s days decide residency for the following YA.
- List every entry and exit date for that year, using your passport stamps, airline records or the ICA travel record.
- Count the days in Singapore, including weekends, public holidays, and temporary or incidental absences that are part of your Singapore employment.
- If you reach 183 days, you are resident for that YA.
- If you do not, check whether your employment straddles two years with a continuous period of at least 183 days, or whether you will stay continuously for three consecutive years.
- Check whether you hold a directorship, because that can take you outside the concessions.
- If you are leaving, make sure your employer files Form IR21 on time, and check the residency position IRAS applies in the clearance assessment.
Documents to keep
- Passport pages, boarding passes or travel records showing each arrival and departure
- Employment contract and letter showing your start date and, if relevant, your last day
- Work pass approval and cancellation letters
- Records of overseas leave and business trips taken during your Singapore employment
- Board appointment and resignation records if you are or were a director
- Form IR8A or the employer’s auto-included income data, and any IR21 acknowledgement
Frequently asked questions
Is tax residency the same as being a Singapore Permanent Resident?
No. Tax residency is a status for income tax purposes only. A foreigner on an Employment Pass can be a tax resident without any immigration residency rights, and a Permanent Resident who lives abroad may not be a tax resident for a particular year.
Do business trips abroad reduce my day count?
Not if they are part of your Singapore employment. IRAS counts temporary absences, such as overseas leave, and incidental absences, such as business trips, within your period of employment. A long overseas posting is different and may trigger tax clearance.
Can I be resident in Singapore and another country at the same time?
Yes. Each country applies its own rules, so you may be a resident of both for the same period. A tax treaty between Singapore and the other country may contain tie-breaker rules, and you may need a certificate of residence to claim treaty benefits.
I was assessed as a non-resident, but I later qualified under a concession. What happens?
Because the concessions depend on how long you eventually stay, IRAS may first assess you as a non-resident and revise the assessment once the continuous period is established. Keep your travel and employment records so you can support the revised position.
Does company tax residency follow my personal residency?
No. A company’s tax residency depends on where its business is controlled and managed, usually where the board makes strategic decisions. A director’s personal residency is a separate question.
Need help with your Singapore tax residency?
If you are moving to Singapore to work for your own company, or you employ foreign staff who are arriving or leaving, contact the Raffles Corporate Services team at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +65 8501 7133. We can help you work out residency for each year, prepare payroll and Form IR8A reporting, file Form IR21 for departing employees, and handle withholding tax on director’s fees paid to non-resident directors.
Kevin Yeo, Raffles Corporate Services