Tax policy is an integral part of fiscal policy. Sound tax policies ensure tax revenue that can contribute to sound public finances. Also, tax policies can help to promote social and economic objectives. We aim to encourage entrepreneurship and hard work by enterprises and individuals, while keeping the tax base wide (i.e. to spread the tax burden over many taxpayers, instead of imposing a heavy tax burden on only a few taxpayers). So, 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
Stamp Duty
Gambling-related taxes
Over the years, we have diversified our tax revenue away from direct income taxes to indirect taxes (especially GST). 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 fiscal sustainability.