Income tax in Singapore for Australians: IRAS, the 183 days and the treaty

Short answer: Singapore's tax rates are low, but your bill depends on whether IRAS treats you as a resident, and that comes down to counting days.

The short version

• Singapore taxes income earned in Singapore. Residents pay progressive rates from 0% to 24%; the first S$20,000 of chargeable income is tax-free [1].
• You're usually a tax resident if you stay or work in Singapore for 183 days or more in a calendar year. Two concessions help people who arrive or leave mid-year [1].
• Non-residents pay 15% on employment income or the resident rates, whichever is higher, and can't claim personal reliefs [1].
• You file once a year with IRAS on myTax Portal, by 18 April. There's no PAYG: most foreigners pay their own tax bill after the assessment arrives [1].
• When you resign or leave, your employer must file Form IR21 and hold back your final pay until IRAS clears you [2].

How Singapore tax differs from home

Australians are used to tax being taken out of every pay packet. Singapore doesn't do that for most employees. Your employer reports your income to IRAS, you file a return between March and April, and IRAS sends a Notice of Assessment. You then pay the bill in one go or by monthly GIRO instalments.

Three other differences catch new arrivals:

1. The tax year is the calendar year. Income earned in 2026 is assessed in "Year of Assessment 2027" and filed by 18 April 2027 [1].
2. No tax on most foreign-sourced income received by individuals. Interest from an Australian savings account or rent from a flat in Brisbane generally isn't taxed in Singapore [3]. Australia may still want its share, which we cover below.
3. No capital gains tax in Singapore [3].

Resident or non-resident: the 183-day test

IRAS treats a foreigner as a tax resident for a year if any of these apply [1]:

• You stayed or worked in Singapore for at least 183 days in the previous calendar year.
• You stayed or worked in Singapore continuously across three consecutive years, even if the first or third year was under 183 days.
• You worked in Singapore across two consecutive calendar years with a combined stay of at least 183 days (this concession isn't for directors, public entertainers or professionals).

Weekends, public holidays and short trips out of Singapore while you're employed here count towards the total [1].

This matters if you land in, say, September. Without the two-year concession you'd be a non-resident for your first year and pay at least 15% on every dollar. With it, as long as you stay into the next year and reach 183 days across both, you're taxed as a resident from day one.

Short stints are different again. Employment of 60 days or less in a calendar year is generally exempt, unless you're a director, public entertainer or professional [1].

The rates

Singapore's resident rates have been the same since Year of Assessment 2024 [1]:

Source: [1].

Even at the top band there's no Medicare levy on top. A one-off rebate (60%, capped at S$200) applied for Year of Assessment 2025, with none for 2026 [1]. Don't count on one in future years unless the Budget announces it.

Non-residents pay a flat 15% on employment income, or the resident rates if that works out higher, and 24% on director's fees and most other income [1].

Reliefs worth knowing

Residents can claim personal reliefs that non-residents can't. One that suits foreigners is the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS), a voluntary account at DBS, OCBC or UOB. Contributions reduce your taxable income, and the annual cap for foreigners is S$35,700, more than double the S$15,300 cap for citizens and PRs [4]. The catch: withdrawals before Singapore's statutory retirement age are fully taxable and carry a 5% penalty [4]. Run the numbers before treating it as a tax shelter.

Filing with IRAS, step by step

1. Get Singpass. You log in to myTax Portal with it once your FIN is issued.
2. Watch for the notice. IRAS tells you if you need to file. Many employers send your salary details straight to IRAS, so they appear pre-filled.
3. File between 1 March and 18 April. Check the pre-filled income, add any other Singapore income, and claim reliefs [1].
4. Read your Notice of Assessment. It usually arrives from April onwards.
5. Pay by the due date on the notice, or set up GIRO. GIRO lets you spread the bill over monthly instalments, which feels a lot more like home.

Late filing and late payment attract penalties, so set a reminder for early April.

Leaving your job: the IR21 tax clearance

This is the rule that surprises Australians most. When a foreign employee resigns, is posted overseas, or leaves Singapore for more than three months, the employer must file Form IR21 at least one month before the last day of work [2].

From the moment your employer knows you're leaving, they must hold back all money due to you: final salary, bonus, leave pay, reimbursements. They can release it only when IRAS issues a clearance directive or 30 days after filing, whichever comes first [2]. If IRAS issues a directive to pay tax, the employer pays it from your withheld money within 10 days [2].

What this means in practice:

• Give notice early if you can, so the IR21 isn't rushed.
• Expect your last pay to land late, and budget for it, especially if you're paying shipping costs.
• Changing employers within Singapore still triggers an IR21 in most cases, even if you aren't leaving the country [2].
• An employer who files late can be fined up to S$5,000 [2].

The Australian angle: the treaty and the ATO

Singapore's low rates only help you if Australia doesn't also tax the same salary. That depends on your Australian tax residency, which we cover in detail in our guide to Australian tax residency after moving.

If you've genuinely moved to Singapore and the ATO treats you as a foreign resident, Australia only taxes your Australian-sourced income, such as rent from an investment property. If you're still an Australian resident, Australia taxes your worldwide income, Singapore salary included, and you claim a foreign income tax offset for Singapore tax paid [3]. Because Singapore's tax is usually lower, there's often a top-up to pay to the ATO.

The Australia–Singapore double tax agreement was signed in Canberra in 1969 and updated by protocols in 1989 and 2009 [5][6]. Two parts matter most for employees:

Two Australian loose ends to tidy before you go: tell your bank and the ATO you're a foreign resident if you are, and ask about your HECS-HELP debt, which still needs to be reported from overseas.

Want to compare notes with people who've done their first IRAS return? Join Cooee Singapore, our Facebook group for Australians in Singapore.

Sources

1. Singapore personal income taxes in 2025: rates, residency and filing – Statrys
2. Tax clearance (IR21) guide for employers – Emerhub (November 2025)
3. Singapore tax brief for Australian expats – Expat Taxes (updated June 2026)
4. Supplementary Retirement Scheme – Ministry of Finance Singapore
5. Protocol amending the Australia–Singapore double taxation agreement – DFAT Australian Treaties Database
6. Synthesised text of the Australia–Singapore tax agreement and MLI – Australian Taxation Office

Keep reading

• CPF and Australians in Singapore: why you don't pay it, until PR
• Work passes in Singapore for Australians: EP, ONE Pass and the Work Holiday Pass
• Are you still an Australian tax resident once you move?
• Your HECS-HELP debt when you live overseas