YA 2026 CIT Rebate and Cash Grant: Who Qualifies, How Much and Worked Examples

Short answer: For Year of Assessment 2026, every taxpaying Singapore company gets a Corporate Income Tax Rebate of 50% of its tax payable. Active companies that made CPF contributions for at least one local employee (not a shareholder-director) in 2025 also get a S$2,000 CIT Rebate Cash Grant. The rebate and cash grant together are capped at S$40,000.

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.

We already have a separate article on how the YA 2026 rebate changed from the original Budget 2026 announcement. This one is the working guide. It sets out who qualifies, how the rebate and cash grant interact, when each appears, and five worked examples you can check against your own Notice of Assessment.

What is the YA 2026 CIT Rebate and how much is it?

It is a one-off reduction of 50% of the corporate tax a company owes for YA 2026, capped at S$40,000 including any cash grant. YA 2026 covers a company’s financial year ending in 2025. So a company with a 31 December 2025 year end, or a 30 June 2025 year end, is in YA 2026.

At Budget 2026 the Government announced a 40% rebate, a S$1,500 minimum cash grant and a S$30,000 cap. On 7 April 2026, in a Ministerial Statement on the impact of the Middle East situation, the Senior Minister of State for Finance announced that all three would go up. According to the Ministry of Finance statement, the aim was to help businesses manage cash flow as energy and logistics costs rose.

The rebate applies to resident and non-resident companies, registered business trusts and variable capital companies. It also covers income taxed at a concessionary rate. It does not apply to income subject to a final withholding tax.

Who qualifies for the S$2,000 CIT Rebate Cash Grant?

A company qualifies if it is active when the grant is paid and it meets the local employee condition. Both tests must be passed. Neither depends on whether the company made a profit.

The local employee condition

The company must have made CPF contributions for at least one local employee (a Singapore citizen or permanent resident) in calendar year 2025. Shareholders who are also directors of the company do not count. A one-person company where the founder pays CPF on their own salary therefore does not meet the condition. The test is CPF contributions, not headcount on a particular date, so one local employee for part of 2025 is enough.

IRAS also accepts people deployed to the company under a centralised hiring or secondment arrangement with a related party. The company must be able to document the arrangement and the recharge of employment costs for 2025, and the arrangement must be for genuine commercial reasons. The individual must also not count towards the related party’s own headcount.

The active company test

An active company carries on a trade or business, including holding investments, at the time the grant is paid. A company is inactive if it is not carrying on any trade or business, is in liquidation, is under receivership of all its property, or has ceased to exist (for example, after an amalgamation). An amalgamated company can still qualify if it meets the local employee condition.

How do the rebate and the cash grant interact?

The cash grant is an advance part of the rebate, not an extra amount on top. IRAS works out 50% of the company’s tax payable, caps it at S$40,000, then deducts the S$2,000 already paid as the cash grant. The company keeps the S$2,000 even if its rebate would have been smaller.

The rebate is calculated on tax payable after tax set-offs such as foreign tax credits, but before tax deducted at source. The partial tax exemption or start-up tax exemption is applied first, because the rebate works on the tax, not the income.

When is the cash grant paid and when does the rebate show up?

The cash grant was paid automatically by the second quarter of 2026. The rebate appears in the company’s YA 2026 tax assessment. No application is needed for either.

The IRAS guidance on CIT rebates gives this timeline:

• ECI filed but no Form C-S/Form C yet: IRAS reassessed the ECI assessment to include the rebate by June 2026.
• ECI and Form C-S/Form C filed but not finalised: the rebate is included in the Form C-S/Form C assessment, by August 2026.
• Assessment already finalised (for example, an advance assessment): an amended Notice of Assessment by August 2026.

For companies filing their YA 2026 return now, before the 30 November 2026 deadline, the rebate will be in the Notice of Assessment IRAS issues after processing. The estimated tax on the acknowledgement page when you file will not show the cash grant. It only appears in the final tax payable on the Notice of Assessment.

Worked examples: what will my company actually get?

All examples use the 17% rate and the partial tax exemption (75% of the first S$10,000 and 50% of the next S$190,000 of chargeable income, so up to S$102,500 is exempt). Figures are rounded to the cent.

Example 1: loss-making company with one local employee

No chargeable income, so no tax and no rebate. The company met the local employee condition, so it keeps the S$2,000 cash grant. Total benefit: S$2,000.

Example 2: small profit, with a local employee

Chargeable income S$40,000. Exempt amount S$22,500 (S$7,500 plus 50% of S$30,000). Taxable S$17,500 at 17% is S$2,975. A 50% rebate would be S$1,487.50, which is less than S$2,000, so no rebate is given in the assessment. Tax payable: S$2,975. Total benefit: the S$2,000 cash grant already received.

Example 3: same profit, owner-director is the only staff member

The same figures, but the only CPF contributions were for a shareholder-director, so there is no cash grant. The rebate is S$1,487.50. Tax payable: S$1,487.50. Total benefit: S$1,487.50.

Example 4: mid-sized profit, with local employees

Chargeable income S$300,000. Exempt amount S$102,500. Taxable S$197,500 at 17% is S$33,575. A 50% rebate is S$16,787.50. Less the S$2,000 cash grant, the rebate in the assessment is S$14,787.50. Tax payable: S$18,787.50. Total benefit: S$16,787.50.

Example 5: larger company hitting the cap

Chargeable income S$1,000,000. Exempt amount S$102,500. Taxable S$897,500 at 17% is S$152,575. A 50% rebate is S$76,287.50, capped at S$40,000. Less the S$2,000 cash grant, the rebate in the assessment is S$38,000. Tax payable: S$114,575. Total benefit: S$40,000.

A company in its first three Years of Assessment uses the start-up tax exemption instead of the partial tax exemption. The rebate method is the same. Our guide to the start-up tax exemption explains the exempt amounts.

What should we do if we qualify but did not receive the cash grant?

Email IRAS through myTax Mail by 30 November 2026, with the subject header “Appeal for CIT Rebate Cash Grant”. This usually happens where the local employee was employed through a centralised hiring or secondment arrangement. In those cases IRAS’s CPF data for the company will show no contributions.

1. Check your 2025 CPF contribution records and confirm at least one contributor was a Singapore citizen or PR who was not a shareholder-director.
2. Confirm the company was active, and not in liquidation or struck off, when the grant was paid.
3. Gather supporting documents: the hiring or secondment agreement and the records of employment cost recharges for 2025.
4. Log in to myTax Portal with Corppass and send the appeal through myTax Mail with the exact subject header.
5. Keep a copy of the appeal and IRAS’s reply with your tax records.

How should the rebate and cash grant be treated in the accounts and tax computation?

The rebate reduces the current tax expense for YA 2026. The cash grant is money received from the Government, and IRAS has said it is not taxable. In practice this means:

• Do not deduct the rebate when calculating chargeable income for the ECI or the Form C-S/Form C. Report the full figures and let IRAS apply the rebate.
• If the cash grant is recorded as income in the profit and loss account, deduct it as non-taxable income in the tax computation.
• When estimating the tax provision in your financial statements, apply the 50% rebate (less the S$2,000 cash grant where it was received) to the YA 2026 tax. Reconcile the figure to the Notice of Assessment when it arrives.
• Do not confuse the CIT Rebate Cash Grant with the separate SME Cash Grant 2026. That scheme has its own conditions and payment timing.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need to apply for the YA 2026 CIT Rebate?

No. IRAS applies the rebate automatically when it assesses the ECI or the Form C-S/Form C, and it paid the cash grant automatically to companies that qualified. The only exception is an appeal for a cash grant that was not received, which must reach IRAS by 30 November 2026.

Does a director who is also a shareholder count as a local employee?

No. IRAS excludes shareholders who are also directors of the company. A director who holds no shares and receives CPF contributions as an employee can count, provided they are a Singapore citizen or permanent resident.

Can a dormant company get the cash grant?

Generally not. A company must be carrying on a trade or business, including holding investments, when the grant is paid. It must also have made CPF contributions for a local employee in 2025, which a truly dormant company would not have done.

Our company has a 30 June year end. Which financial year does YA 2026 cover?

The financial year ended 30 June 2025. YA 2026 covers the financial year ending in calendar year 2025, whatever the month.

Is the cash grant counted towards the S$40,000 cap?

Yes. The S$40,000 is the total of the rebate and the cash grant. That is why a company receiving the S$2,000 grant can receive at most S$38,000 more as rebate in its assessment.

Will the rebate show on the acknowledgement page when we file Form C-S?

The estimated tax on the acknowledgement page will not show the cash grant. Check the final tax payable on the Notice of Assessment. If the figure looks wrong, ask your tax agent to compare it with the computation before the payment due date.

If you are filing YA 2026 returns this month, see our notes on the 30 November 2026 filing deadline and which form your company should file. Raffles Corporate Services files Form C-S from S$350 and Form C from S$700, including the ECI where needed.

Last reviewed: 4 October 2026. The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services.