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Singapore: Overview

Hiring an R&D tax adviser in Singapore: the enhanced deductions for R&D claimed in the corporate income tax return, SCTP accreditation and what IRAS says about tax agents, the objection and error-or-mistake time limits, and the practical checks before you sign.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026

This page summarises the position in Singapore as at 13 October 2026. It is not legal advice and may not reflect later changes. Check the official sources listed below.

In Singapore a company claims the deductions for R&D, including the enhanced deductions, in its corporate income tax return for the relevant year of assessment, with the R&D claim form.1Source 1IRAS, Research & Development (R&D) Tax Measures (13 August 2026): "Your company must make the R&D claim in its Corporate Income Tax Return for the relevant Year of Assessment (YA)" with the R&D Claim Form; Income Tax Act 1947 section 14C. IRAS describes the Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals (SCTP) as the accreditation body for tax professionals in Singapore: professionals who have the necessary training and experience may apply to SCTP for accreditation, and certain IRAS programmes can only be performed by SCTP accredited professionals.2Source 2IRAS, IRAS-Tax Agent relationship (28 January 2026). The IRAS page read for this page describes no registration or licensing of tax agents, so accreditation and professional body membership are the external checks this page describes. The practical checks below are about finding out who you are dealing with, and what the engagement letter says, before you sign.

The practical checks

  1. Ask whether each named person is SCTP accredited, and which professional body they belong to. SCTP keeps a directory of accredited professionals who have agreed to be listed; the checking an adviser's credentials page says how to use it and what a listing does and does not tell you.3Source 3Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals, Directory of accredited tax professionals.
  2. Ask how the adviser decides what qualifies. The Income Tax Act 1947 defines research and development as a systematic, investigative and experimental study that involves novelty or technical risk, in a field of science or technology, and IRAS sets out three requirements under that definition.4Source 4Income Tax Act 1947 section 2(1), definition of "research and development"; IRAS, Research & Development (R&D) Tax Measures (13 August 2026), "3 Requirements Under Section 2 of the Income Tax Act 1947". An adviser should be able to show how your projects meet them and name work they would leave out (how do you decide what qualifies?).
  3. Check the time limits before anything else. The R&D claim is made in the return for the year of assessment. A company that wants to revise an assessment objects within two months of the notice of assessment. Relief for an error or mistake in a return can be applied for within four years after the end of the year of assessment in which the assessment was made.5Source 5IRAS, After filing Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite)/ Form C (29 May 2026); Income Tax Act 1947 section 93A. Test any offer to claim for earlier years against these dates (cold calls about unclaimed refunds).
  4. Ask how the fee is calculated and what it covers. The engagement letter decides four things: what the fee is a percentage of, what happens to it if IRAS reduces the deduction, whether help with an IRAS query or audit is included, and who owns the working papers. Read it against the twenty questions and the contracts section. The fee and preparer rules themselves are on the sister site linked beside this page.
  5. Read the technical case before the return goes in. The company files the return and answers for it; the your responsibility page sets out what that means, including the point that the IRAS guidance describes late payment penalties rather than interest, and IRAS's four year time limit for additional assessments.

If something goes wrong

If IRAS queries or audits the claim, read if your claim is reviewed and take advice before you reply. If the problem is the adviser, the complaints about an adviser page sets out the order: the firm first, then the professional body, with what the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants requires of a complaint and what it will not take.

Sources

  1. IRAS, Research & Development (R&D) Tax Measures (13 August 2026): "Your company must make the R&D claim in its Corporate Income Tax Return for the relevant Year of Assessment (YA)" with the R&D Claim Form; Income Tax Act 1947 section 14C.  Back
  2. IRAS, IRAS-Tax Agent relationship (28 January 2026).  Back
  3. Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals, Directory of accredited tax professionals.  Back
  4. Income Tax Act 1947 section 2(1), definition of "research and development"; IRAS, Research & Development (R&D) Tax Measures (13 August 2026), "3 Requirements Under Section 2 of the Income Tax Act 1947".  Back
  5. IRAS, After filing Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite)/ Form C (29 May 2026); Income Tax Act 1947 section 93A.  Back

Official sources

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