What is a Notice of Assessment (NOA) in Singapore?
If you are an individual or a company that has dealt with tax-related matters in Singapore, you have probably heard of a Notice of Assessment (NOA). But if you haven’t or are looking to get all the details, we’ve got you! In this article we will dive into everything you need to know about a NOA, including the information it contains, the different types of NOAs for companies, paying methods for the tax requirements, how to obtain copies, and much more!
Complying with tax regulations in Singapore is essential for both companies and individuals. A document that holds great significance in this process is a Notice of Assessment (NOA), which goes hand-in-hand with the submission of Estimated Chargeable Income, Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite), and Form C. With that said, let’s get started!
Overview of the Notice of Assessment (NOA) in Singapore
The Notice of Assessment (NOA) – commonly referred to as a “tax bill” – is a document that the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) provides to tax-paying companies and individuals with their respective tax assessments for a financial year. In other words, the NOA includes your chargeable income and the required tax payment to the IRAS.
In the case of individuals, you will receive the NOA shortly after filing your personal income tax returns. Companies are also issued the NOA after submitting their income tax, but the type of NOA received depends on a few circumstances that we will discuss later on.
What Information Does the NOA Contain?
Aside from containing the chargeable income and tax payable amount, the NOA includes other important tax-related details that vary on whether the entity at hand is a company or an individual. Let’s explore how the details vary between the two.
Companies
A company’s income tax Notice of Assessment contains the following pieces of information:
Assessable Income
This refers to the income included on your Estimated Chargeable Income filing, Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite), or Form C. It is your company’s net total income before any corporate tax deductions.
Chargeable Income
This figure is the actual income taxed by the IRAS. To arrive at this number, the allowable deductibles are subtracted from the assessable income amount. For example, if a company is registered less than 3 years ago, it automatically receives a tax deduction of 75% on its first S$100,000 net income. Thus, the chargeable income for the first hundred thousand becomes only S$25,000.
Tax Payable
The IRAS requires that your company pays this tax amount, which is calculated by applying the current tax rates to your company’s chargeable income. The deadline to make such payment is specified on your company’s NOA.
Tax Repayable/ Discharged Amount
This is the refundable amount the IRAS pays your company if the tax it paid was more than the required tax payment. You can find this figure in the final tax bill.
Individuals
Similarly, an individual’s income tax Notice of Assessment includes these key points:
Assessable Income
This refers to the total income earned (not including allowable expenses and approved donations) from salaries, investments, trade/rental income, etc.
Personal Relief
These are tax benefits for individuals that are similar to tax deductibles for companies. They include earned income relief, spouse relief, life insurance relief, and some other types.
Chargeable Income
This quantity is the income the IRAS taxes individuals as well as companies, but in this case, it is obtained by deducting personal reliefs from the assessable income amount.
Tax Payable
As for companies, the NOA for individuals includes a tax payable, which refers to the amount of tax you are required to pay to the IRAS. This number is calculated by applying personal income tax rates to the chargeable income.
The Types of NOAs for Singapore Companies
A final Notice of Assessment issued to Singapore companies every year is a Type 4 NOA. Because this is the most common type of assessment, it is usually referred to simply as NOA.
According to IRAS, around 90% of the companies are treated as straight-forward cases and issued this Type 4 NOA straight away after filing their tax declaration forms (Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite) or Form C).
The remaining 10% are the companies with more complex tax affairs and they can be initially issued Type 3 NOA which is also called Notice of Estimated Assessment. However, after the final review, they will also receive a final, Type 4 NOA.
Types 1, 2, and 3 are much less relevant but worth mentioning for the understanding of the full picture of the tax assessment framework in Singapore.
Type 1 NOA
The Type 1 Notice of Assessment is issued by the IRAS once your company successfully files its Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI). You can expect to receive a Type 1 NOA a few months after the ECI submission. This is a provisional type of NOA.
Type 2 NOA
In most cases, the Type 2 NOA is issued to companies that fail to fulfill a specific requirement or standard as established by the IRAS. Thus, your company will receive a Type 2 NOA if it falls into any of these categories:
- Your company did not submit the ECI within three months after the end of the respective financial year unless it was exempted by an ECI filing waiver.
- Your company does not submit Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite)/ Form C by the deadline specified by the IRAS.
- Your company reports an ECI that is substantially lower than the reported tax in Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite), or Form C
- Your company was issued an advanced assessment by the IRAS
Your company may submit an objection within two months of the NOA issuance date if it does not agree with the IRAS’ tax assessment.
Type 3 NOA
As mentioned above, Type 3 NOA is also a temporary tax assessment that can be issued to the company on request, while the review of the final NOA is pending. Type 3 NOA is quite a rare scenario, which is usually relevant to companies with complex tax affairs and differences in taxable figures between the initial ECI and the final Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite), or Form C.
Important Note
In the case of a Type 3 NOA, a company cannot file an objection.
Type 4 NOA
The Type 4 Notice of Assessment is the main tax evaluation performed and provided by the IRAS. In most instances, you can expect your company to receive this NOA, within 2-3 weeks after filing the company’s tax declaration (Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite), or Form C) which is due by 15 December, but the specific date may vary depending on the complexity of your company’s tax affairs.
Unlike for a Type 3 NOA, for a Type 4 you may file an objection within 2 months of the NOA being issued.
Important Note
Even if your company filed an objection, the IRAS requires that it pays the specified tax payable on every issued Notice of Assessment within 1 month of the respective NOA issuance date.
Payment Modes for the Taxes Payable
Every NOA you receive will include the different available payment methods to make the required tax payments. Nonetheless, it’s important to know ahead of time what the various payment options are.
In Singapore, there are only 2 options: taxes can be paid in one payment or stretched over the 12-month period interest-free. This is called GIRO arrangement, and to be eligible for it, the company must have a bank account with one of the Singapore banks, such as DBS, UOB, OCBC, or Standard and Chartered.
Payment by GIRO
Depending on how early your company filed its ECI, it may be eligible to pay the required amount through interest-free installments – in other words, over a number of fixed periods usually up to 1 year.
One-time Payment
Every company, if not qualified for GIRO, can make a one-time payment of the tax amount due. This can be done electronically through the following channels:
- Internet banking
- Telegraphic transfer (this is the only option for companies with bank accounts in any overseas bank)
- SingPost, AXS
- PayNow QR
- And others
The standard, one-time payment is usually required to pay the tax payable within one month of the date of the NOA. The delay in payment will result in a 5% late payment penalty, applicable to the whole amount of tax remaining unpaid.
Getting a Copy of the NOA
You may be wondering how a company or individual can access the NOAs issued by the IRAS. There are two options to obtain a copy of your NOAs.
Tax Bills Available on myTax Portal
Accessing your tax bills through the myTax portal is the main and most time-efficient option as you can instantly review any tax bills at no cost. Here, you will be able to check your tax bills for the current Year of Assessment and those from the previous three years. To download a digital copy of your NOAs, you can take the following steps:
- Log in to the myTax portal with SingPass/ SingPass Foreign User Account (SFA)
- Select “Notices/ Letters” > “Corporate Tax” > “View Notices”
- Download your NOAs
Tax Bills Not Available on myTax Portal
In the rare case that you are not able to access your tax bills through the myTax portal, you have the option to request a copy that will come from the IRAS Revenue House. As opposed to only being able to obtain tax bills from the prior three years digitally, through this method you may be able to obtain copies for up to the past seven years.
This option, however, requires fee payments as follows:
- S$20 fee for the document search
- S$3 fee per certified document page or S$0.3 per uncertified document page
The required payment can be done at the application by card or through Internet Banking Fund Transfer to the IRAS.
If you prefer for a representative or tax agent to acquire the documents, he or she will need to bring these documents to the appointment:
- Authorization Letter from the Company: This should be done on the company’s letterhead, duly signed by the company’s authorized officer, and provide a description of the needed document(s).
Important Note
Your representative must also provide their original ID document - NRIC/ FIN or Passport.
Conclusion
In this guide, we have taken a deep dive into all the details you must know to understand what a Notice of Assessment (NOA) in Singapore is, what information one contains, the different types that can be issued to companies; how to obtain copies, and more. We, at Intracorp, understand that companies and individuals may have unique and complex circumstances when it comes to NOAs, which is why our tax agents are here to guide you and answer any questions you may have about NOAs or other tax-related matters in Singapore. Get in touch with us today. We are here to help you achieve your goals!
