Who needs to file corporate tax for YA 2020?

The corporate tax filing deadline is upon us. The deadline to file corporate tax for the Year of Assessment 2020 (YA2020) is 15th of December 2020. There is no hardcopy filing and all corporate taxes are to be e-filed. Do not confuse the corporate tax filing season which occurs at the end of every year with the personal income tax filing season in April of every year.

There is some confusion as to which company needs to file corporate taxes for YA2020.

The companies that need to file corporate tax for YA 2020 are those which have financial years which ended in 2019.

For example, if a company is incorporated on the 1st of May 2018 and closed its financial year on the 30th of April 2019, it needs to file its corporate tax for the period 1st May 2018 to 30th April 2019 for YA 2020 by the 15th of December 2020.

If a company is incorporated on the 15th of June 2019 and closed its financial year on the 14th of June 2020, it does not need to file its corporate tax for the period 15th June 2019 to 14th June 2020 as the closure of the financial year did not occur in 2019. Instead, it needs to file its corporate tax for this period for YA 2021.

If the company registration number or Unique Entity Number (UEN) starts with 2019, most probably the company does not need to file corporate tax for YA 2020.

There some exceptions to this.

For example, if the company was incorporated in 2019 but closed its first financial year in 2019, it will need to file corporate taxes for YA 2020.

If a company is incorporated on the 1st of January 2019 and closed its financial year on the 31st of December 2019, it needs to file its corporate tax for the period 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019 for YA 2020 by the 15th of December 2020.

Alternatively, a company that was newly incorporated in 2019 may also choose to have its first financial year shorter than 365 days.

For example, if the company was incorporated on the 1st of March 2019 but closed its financial year on the 31st of December 2019, it needs to file its corporate tax for the period 1st March 2019 to 31st December 2019 for YA 2020 by the 15th of December 2020.

If you are still unclear about whether your company needs to file its corporate taxes for YA 2020, do contact Daryl at +65 82222886 / [email protected] or Shin Yee at +65 89073558 / [email protected].

Do note that there are consequences for late filing or non-filing of Corporate Income Tax Returns

When in doubt, seek legal advice or consult an experienced ACRA Filing Agent.

Yours Sincerely,
The editorial team at Singapore Secretary Services

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