Tax policy is an integral part of fiscal policy. Besides providing a significant source of funding for government operations, tax policies can help to promote social and economic objectives.  The main fundamental tenet of Singapore's tax policy is to keep tax rates low, both for corporations as well as individuals. This will encourage both entrepreneurship and hard work.

Another fundamental tenet of our tax policy is to keep the tax base broad, i.e. to spread the tax burden over many taxpayers, instead of imposing a heavy tax burden on only a few taxpayers.  This is to ensure that everyone plays a part in paying a share of the taxes that fund government services.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore is the main body collecting taxes for the Government.   The major tax types collected by IRAS are as follows:

 Individual Income Tax

 Corporate Income Tax

 Goods and Services Tax (GST)

 Property Tax

Over the years, we have diversified our tax revenue away from direct income taxes to indirect taxes (such as GST, property tax and stamp duty).  Such a diversified tax mix allows Singapore to maintain competitive rates of income tax to encourage effort and entrepreneurship, while ensuring resilient government revenue for funding government services and thus a prudent fiscal position.