Section 5
Application for and issue and amendment of pioneer certificate
of Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) Act 1967
(1)
Any company which is desirous of producing a pioneer product may make a written application to the Minister to be approved as a pioneer enterprise for that pioneer product in such form and with such particulars as may be prescribed.
(2)
A company may make an application under subsection (1) to be approved as a pioneer enterprise for more than one pioneer product which it is desirous of producing.
(3)
Where the Minister is satisfied that it is expedient in the public interest to do so and, in particular, having regard to the production or anticipated production of the pioneer product from all sources of production in Singapore, the Minister may approve that company as a pioneer enterprise for that pioneer product and issue a pioneer certificate to the company in respect of that pioneer product, subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit.
(4)
No company may be approved as a pioneer enterprise on or after 1 January 2024.
(5)
Every pioneer certificate issued under this section to a pioneer enterprise must be in respect of a pioneer product and must specify —
the pioneer product; and
the date on or before which it is expected that the pioneer enterprise will commence to produce in marketable quantities the pioneer product.
(6)
Where the Minister approves a company as a pioneer enterprise for 2 or more pioneer products, the Minister may issue a single pioneer certificate in respect of those pioneer products if —
the tax relief periods of the pioneer enterprise for all the pioneer products, as determined by the Minister under section 6, expire on the same day; and
the Minister is satisfied that the pioneer enterprise will be producing all the pioneer products as part of the same project.
(7)
The Minister may, upon the application of any pioneer enterprise, amend a pioneer certificate issued to the pioneer enterprise —
by substituting for the date referred to in subsection (5)(b) of a pioneer product specified in the pioneer certificate such earlier or later date as the Minister thinks fit, and upon such substitution the provisions of this Act have effect as if the date so substituted were the pioneer enterprise’s production day of that product; (b)by removing any pioneer product from the pioneer certificate with effect from a date determined by the Minister; or
by adding to the pioneer certificate any pioneer product and the date on or before which it is expected that the pioneer enterprise will commence to produce that product in marketable quantities, if —
the tax relief period for the pioneer product expires on the same day as the tax relief period or periods of the other pioneer product or products already specified in the pioneer certificate; and
the Minister is satisfied that the pioneer enterprise will be producing that pioneer product and the other pioneer product or products already specified in the pioneer certificate as part of the same project.
(8)
Without affecting section 61, the Minister may, on the Minister’s own initiative, remove any pioneer product from a pioneer certificate with effect from a date determined by the Minister, if the Minister is satisfied that the pioneer enterprise has contravened —
any provision of this Act; or
any condition of its approval as a pioneer enterprise.