• SD 124 applies to Small and Medium Enterprises which are defined in the regulation based on their annual turnover or their number of employees as per below:

• To benefit from the incentives provided under SD 124, the SME’s need to operate in “priority sectors”;
• Priority sectors include:
  • Agricultural or agro-agricultural products;
  • Food manufacturing and processing;
  • Manufacturing of local consumable goods, waste recycling and production of goods for the tourism sector;
  • Manufacturing of finished products, spare parts or assembling parts to supply other manufacturers;
  • R&D associated with IT or the supply of IT-based services;
  • Enterprises located in SME Cluster Zones and Enterprises developing the Cluster Zone.
• The tax incentives provided to qualifying SME’s include:
  • An exemption from Tax on Income for three (3) years for newly registered enterprises or from the date of tax registration update for existing enterprises;
  • An exemption from Tax on Income for five (5) years for newly registered enterprises or from the date of tax registration update for existing enterprises, that meet one of the following criteria:
    • The enterprise uses at least 60% local raw materials, or;
    • The enterprise increases its number of employees by 20%, or;
    • The enterprise is located in the SME Cluster zone.
  • An exemption from the monthly 1% Pre-payment of Tax on Income and annual Minimum Tax during the Tax on Income exemption period;
  • Incentives for deductible expenditure include:
    • A 200% weighted tax deductible expense for IT-based accounting software and training and staff technical training;
    • A 150% weighted tax deductible expense for equipment or new technology that increases productivity.

There are a number of clarifications that we will obtain from the tax authority over the coming days regarding the implementation of this Sub-Decree. As always, the DFDL tax team stand ready to answer any questions that you may have on this and other tax issues of concern.

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This article is written by DFDL Lawyers.

This article was first published on the DFDL website.

This article does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion on any matter discussed and, accordingly, it should not be relied upon. It should not be regarded as a comprehensive statement of the law and practice in this area. If you require any advice or information, please speak to practicing lawyer in your jurisdiction. No individual who is a member, partner, shareholder or consultant of, in or to any constituent part of Interstellar Group Pte. Ltd. accepts or assumes responsibility, or has any liability, to any person in respect of this article.