Singapore legislation
Clause 34
Clause 34
Amendment of section 43J
(1)
In the ITA, in section 43J —
replace subsection (1) with —“(1) Despite section 43, the Minister may by regulations —
provide that tax at the rate of 5%, 10%, 12% or 13.5% is to be levied and paid for each year of assessment upon any income specified by the Minister that is derived on or after 1 January 2004 by a financial sector incentive company from one or more prescribed qualifying activities; and
provide that tax at the rate of 15% is to be levied and paid for each year of assessment upon any income specified by the Minister that is derived on or after 1 January 2025 by a financial sector incentive company that is approved on or after 19 February 2025 from one or more prescribed qualifying activities.(1A) Regulations made under subsection (1) may provide for the deduction of losses otherwise than in accordance with section 37(3).”;
after subsection (2), insert —“(2AA) Regulations made for the purposes of this section may provide the last date by which approval for a financial sector incentive company or a specified class of financial sector incentive companies may be given or extended.”; and
after subsection (2A), insert —“(3) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) may be made to take effect from (and including) 1 January 2025.”.
(2)
In the ITA, in section 43J (as amended by subsection (1)) —
in subsection (1)(a), delete “and” at the end;
in subsection (1)(b), replace the full‑stop at the end with “; and”;
in subsection (1), after paragraph (b), insert —“(c)provide for exemption from tax for each year of assessment of any income specified by the Minister that is derived on or after 19 February 2025 by a financial sector incentive company from one or more prescribed qualifying activities, if the requirements specified by the Minister or an authorised body for the exemption to apply to that income for that year of assessment are satisfied.”;
after subsection (1A), insert —“(1B) Despite section 43, the Minister may by regulations provide that tax at the rate of 5% is to be levied and paid for each year of assessment upon any income specified by the Minister that is derived on or after 19 February 2025 by a financial sector incentive company approved under subsection (1C), from one or more prescribed qualifying activities, if the requirements specified by the Minister or an authorised body for the tax rate to apply to that income for that year of assessment are satisfied.(1C) The Minister or an authorised body may approve a company (X) as a financial sector incentive company for the purposes of subsection (1B) only if the following conditions are satisfied:
X or its holding company becomes listed on a stock exchange in Singapore on or after 19 February 2025;
X or its holding company (as the case may be) is not an approved company under section 92K(6), or an approved nominee under section 92K(15)(a), (16) or (22).(1D) It is a condition of the approval for X that X or its holding company (as the case may be) remains listed on the stock exchange in Singapore throughout the period of X’s approval.(1E) In a case where it is a condition of the approval for X that its holding company remains listed on the stock exchange in Singapore throughout the period of X’s approval, a delisting of the holding company from that stock exchange during that period is treated as a failure by X to comply with a condition of X’s approval under section 105R(1)(b).(1F) Regulations made under subsection (1B) may provide for the deduction of losses otherwise than in accordance with section 37(3).”; and
after subsection (3), insert —“(4) Regulations made for the purposes of subsections (1)(c) and (1B) may be made to take effect from (and including) 19 February 2025.(5) The Minister or authorised body may at the time of approving a company as a financial sector incentive company for the purposes of subsection (1)(c), provide in the letter of approval that if a specified requirement is not satisfied by the company on any day in a basis period or throughout a basis period, the tax exemption does not apply to the company’s income for the year of assessment to which the basis period relates or for that year of assessment and subsequent years of assessment.(6) The Minister or authorised body may at the time of approving a company as a financial sector incentive company for the purposes of subsection (1B), provide in the letter of approval that if a specified requirement is not satisfied by the company or its holding company (as the case may be) on any day in a basis period or throughout a basis period, the tax rate of 5% does not apply to the company’s income for the year of assessment to which the basis period relates or for that year of assessment and subsequent years of assessment.(7) In this section, a reference to the holding company of a company (A) is to a company that owns (directly or indirectly) the percentage of ownership in A prescribed in regulations made under subsection (1B).”.