Withholding tax
caught before you pay overseas.
Section 45 · Non-Resident Payments · S45 Filing
Pay a non-resident company or individual for royalties, interest, services, rental or director’s fees, and a slice may be owed to IRAS before the money leaves Singapore. We identify what’s dutiable and file the S45 form correctly.
Section 45
- Royalties / IP use: 10%
- Interest / rental / services: 15% – 17%
- Non-resident director's fee: 24%
- Filing portal: myTax Portal
- Late payment: 5% + 1%/month, capped +15%
- 8 Dutiable payment types
- 10–24% Rate range
- 183d Residency threshold
- S45 Filing form
- 15% Max penalty cap
Overview
Deducted before it leaves Singapore
Rates by payment type
| Payment type | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Royalties / use of information or IP rights | 10% of gross payment | Only where the information brings commercial benefit — not personal, educational or operational use. |
| Interest, loan-related fees, and rental of movable property | 15% of gross payment | Exemptions apply for approved banks’ Singapore branches, loans for overseas property, and certain approved entities. |
| Management, technical and service fees | 17% | Applies where the service is performed in Singapore; purely virtual assistance from abroad is excluded. |
| Purchase of real estate from a non-resident trader | 15% | Applied to the property’s price; buyers can request proof of the seller’s trader status. |
| Individual professional services | 15% | Consultants, lawyers and private practitioners who are non-resident. |
| Non-resident director’s remuneration | 24% | Increased from 22%, effective 1 January 2023. |
| REIT distributions to non-resident unit-holders | 15% | Withheld by the distributing REIT. |
Singapore has Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) with many countries, and a non-resident payee may qualify for a reduced or exempt withholding rate under the relevant treaty rather than the standard domestic rate above.
To claim treaty relief, the non-resident payee must provide a valid Certificate of Residence (COR) — certified by their own country’s tax authority — confirming their tax residency. A fresh COR is required for each year treaty relief is claimed; it isn’t a one-time document that covers future years automatically.
If your non-resident payee is based in a treaty country, it’s worth checking the applicable DTA before applying the standard rate — the difference can be significant, but only if the COR is obtained and filed correctly.
- Identify the dutiable payment — We check whether a planned payment to a non-resident falls under Section 45, and at what rate.
- Log in to myTax Portal — Access is via your company’s CorpPass account.
- File the S45 form — Declare the payment type and the exact withholding amount due.
- Confirm and pay — The confirmation page shows the amount and due date. Pay via bank transfer, GIRO deduction, or DBS PayLah!, among other options.
- 5% late payment penalty — Applied immediately once the due date is missed.
- Additional 1% per month — Accrues for every month the payment remains outstanding.
- Auto-debit or legal action — IRAS can request an auto-debit from the defaulter’s bank at any time, or pursue legal action — though some leniency (up to around 15 months) and penalty waivers are possible where there’s a genuine error and good-faith cooperation.
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About to pay an overseas vendor or director?
FAQs
You, the payer. Withholding tax is deducted from the payment before it’s sent, and it’s the Singapore-based payer’s legal obligation to remit it to IRAS.
It can — a company is judged non-resident based on where its management and policy decisions are made, not where it has a physical branch. A Finland-headquartered company with a Singapore branch is still non-resident for this purpose.
Generally no for technical/office assistance — the 17% rate applies specifically where the non-resident’s staff perform the service physically in Singapore, not purely remote assistance.
No — IRAS looks at where management and control of the paying and receiving entities actually sit, not just which entity is named on the invoice.
