Form C-S (Lite) was recently announced, and made available for all companies required to file their respective tax obligations from YA2020.
What is Form C-S (Lite)?
Form C-S (Lite) is a further simplified income tax return. Unlike the usual Form C-S, which requires about 18 essential fields to be entered; Form C-S (Lite) requires only 6 essential fields.
As such, this form is catered for even smaller companies, with straight-forward tax matters. The objective is ultimately to make tax filing more easier and faster for smaller companies.
As of this writing, and in YA2020, there are now 3 types of Tax Forms that all companies may submit depending on their eligibility. Starting from the most complex to the least, they are as follows:
- Form C (For those who are not eligible for Form C-S)
- Form C-S
- Form C-S (Lite) [For those who are eligible for Form C-S, and have less than $200,000 annual revenue]
Form C-S (Lite) Eligibility
In order to qualify for Form C-S (Lite), the company must:
- Meet the current Form C-S qualifying conditions such as:
- The company must be incorporated in Singapore
- The company only derives income taxable at the prevailing corporate tax rate of 17%
- The company is not claiming any of the following in the YA: Carry-back of Current Year Capital Allowances / Losses, Group Relief, Investment Allowance, Foreign Tax Credit and Tax Deducted at Source
- Have an annual revenue of $200,000 or below
As such, one can infer that the difference between Form C-S and Form C-S (Lite) would be that the qualifying condition for Form C-S (Lite) is $200,000 as compared to $5 million; and the number of fields in the form is reduced to 6, from 18 on the usual Form C-S.
When to File Form C-S (Lite)?
There are no changes to the timeline of tax filing obligations. Even if the company is eligible for Form C-S (Lite), the due date remains the same as everyone else. Whereby YA2020 tax returns must be submitted by 15th December 2020.
Note that from YA2021, tax filing due dates will be changed to 30th November each Year of Assessment.
How to file Form C-S (Lite)?
The process of filing Form C-S (Lite) is similar as to filing Form C, or Form C-S. Companies, or their tax agents must e-file their corporate income tax returns on IRAS myTax Portal.
Upon entering the company’s revenue, if it is less than $200,000, IRAS will present the option to select Form C-S (Lite).
So long as you have your company financial documents, the filing of Form C-S (Lite) is relatively straight forward, as it is merely data entry onto IRAS’s online form. Although companies eligible for Form C-S (Lite) are not required to submit their financial statements and tax computations; companies should still prepare them and be ready to submit to IRAS if specifically requested.
Alternatively, you may also engage Leftright Corporate tax services and we’ll be happy to assist.
