IR8A Form

Form IR8A is required by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) to report employee income. Every year on 1 March, IRAS must receive Form IR8A submissions from all employers doing business in Singapore.

An IR8A Form: What Is It?

Every year, all employers are required to file an IR8A form to IRAS. It must be filled out for each worker at that firm to alert IRAS of their wages.

Additionally, Form IR8A and accompanying Appendix 8A, Appendix 8B, or Form IR8S may be presented as supporting papers (if applicable).

Which IR8A Forms Must Be Filled Out and Submitted?

Each employee is required to submit an IR8A form. These include;

• All residents who work full-time.
• All resident part-time workers.
• Every single non-resident worker.
• All local corporate officers.
• Directors of all non-resident corporations.
• Board members and committee members who get board member fees.
• All personnel who are earning a pension while employed by the company.
• All former workers who are still due wages from the prior year.

Exclusions include:

• After receiving approval, foreign employees who were deployed abroad and did not provide employee services in Singapore for the rest of the year.
• For the whole calendar year, foreign workers who were stationed abroad and performed all of their job services outside of Singapore.
• Foreign nationals who have quit the enterprise or the nation. A Form IR21 must be sent to IRAS in this situation.

Which Additional IR8A Supporting Documents Must Be Submitted?

Depending on the circumstances surrounding each employee, other relevant paperwork might also need to be sent to IRAS.

Appendix 8A

Any employee who received benefits-in-kind, such as fringe benefits or other non-cash incentives, must provide Appendix 8A. Free dental treatment, gym memberships, or parking spaces are a few examples.

Benefits-in-kind does not have to be listed in Appendix 8A if they are given an administrative break or are excluded from paying income tax.

Appendix 8B

If an employee received gains or profits through employee share ownership (ESOW) plans or other employee share option (ESOP) plans, Appendix 8B must be filled out.

An employee may purchase shares in the company they work for if they are enrolled with the ESOP or ESOW schemes. Taxes will be paid following any earnings or gains from these shares.

Appendix 8S

If the employer has made more CPF payments to the employee or has claimed, or will claim, a return on additional CPF contributions, Appendix 8S must be filled out.

How Can Form IR8A Be Delivered to IRAS?

Through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) for Employment Income on the IRAS website, you can electronically submit Form IR8A. Employers with six or more workers must participate in AIS; companies with five or fewer employees can opt-in.

You can use this IRAS Service to check if your firm is registered for AIS if you are unsure.

Integrated IR8A filings are a common feature of payroll software providers. You must upload an IR8A.txt file to IRAS using your myTaxPortal to confirm your IRAS unless your payroll software supplier specifies otherwise. Some vendors of payroll software in Singapore will take care of this for you.

IRAS is a considerably faster and more effective mode of submission than hardcopy forms, despite any setup time that may be needed. You shouldn’t need to update the IR8A data every year because it ought to be updated automatically on the tax portal.

You can consult the IRAS List of Supporting Payroll Software Vendors for the AIS to see whether your payroll software already supports IR8A (and in what capacity).

You can download the Offline Application from this page if you decide to submit your IR8A forms manually. However, be advised that this choice will be accessible only till December 2022.

If not, give your workers the IR8A and its supplementary forms before March 1, so they may file them independently. However, we do not advise doing this because it throws an excessive amount of responsibility on your team, which they are unlikely to enjoy.

We recommend giving your employees copies of their IR8A records, regardless of the method you use to submit your Form IR8A.