Public Consultation On Draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006
The Ministry of Finance invites members of the public to give their comments on proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act (ITA).
2. This ITA consultation exercise stretches over one month from 9 June to 8 July 2006. It seeks feedback from all interested parties on areas of the draft legislation that require greater clarity or where compliance can be facilitated.
3. Some of the Budget 2006 tax changes to be legislated include the clarification on tax treatment for qualifying Islamic financial products, enhancements to the tax incentive scheme for foreign trusts and the introduction of a new Maritime Finance Incentive Scheme.
4. In addition to the tax changes announced in Budget 2006, the amendments also provide for other changes or refinements to existing tax policies and administration. This includes the reduction in personal income tax rates, the tax treatment of mutual concerns that are formed as companies limited by guarantee and the revised tax treatment of life insurance companies following the implementation of the Risk Based Capital framework.
5. The consultation papers, draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 and accompanying documents are available at the government’s central consultation portal at http://app.feedback.gov.sg/asp/ocp/ocp01b.asp?id=1&target=All as well as the Ministry of Finance’s website at http://www.mof.gov.sg/consultation_current/index.html. Respondents may send their comments to the Ministry of Finance directly from the website, or separately via email, fax or post.
6. The draft Bill is targeted to be tabled for the First Reading in Parliament in November 2006. To facilitate the timely enactment of the legislation, the Ministry would not be able to consider comments submitted after the deadline of 8 July 2006.
Issued by: Ministry of Finance
8 June 2006
----------------------
BACKGROUND
1. The Ministry of Finance is seeking comments and views on the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 which sets out the legislative amendments to the Income Tax Act. We invite you to contribute comments on the amendments that have an impact on you. Your views are important as they would help improve the drafting of the legislation.
2. The draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 incorporates all amendments to the Income Tax Act relating to the following tax changes:
(a) Budget 2006 tax changes. These are the tax changes announced by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lee Hsien Loong in his Budget 2006 Statement Some of the highlights of the tax changes are:
- clarification on tax treatment for qualifying Islamic financial products;
- enhancements to the tax incentive scheme for foreign trusts;
- introduction of a new Maritime Finance Incentive Scheme
(b) Other tax changes. These are tax changes or refinements to existing tax policies and administration resulting from on-going reviews of the income tax system. Some examples include:
- the tax treatment of mutual concerns set up as companies limited by guarantee;
- the revised tax treatment of life insurance companies following the implementation of the Risk Based Capital framework.
3. The summary table lists all the tax changes and explains the amendments to the Income Tax Act.
SCOPE OF THE CONSULTATION EXERCISE
4. The aim of this exercise is to obtain feedback on areas of the draft legislation that require greater clarity or would facilitate compliance by companies and taxpayers.
5. This is not a consultation exercise on the policy intent of the amendments, as the policies have already been decided through due process.
6. We seek your full support to ensure that the consultation exercise is productive and focused. Respondents are requested to follow these guidelines:
a. Please identify yourself as well as the organisation you represent (if any) so that we may follow up to clarify any issues, if necessary.
b. Make your comments clear and concise.
c. Please use the prescribed template provided to help us understand your feedback better.
d. Your comments should focus on how the legislative amendments can be better written to make them clearer and to make compliance easier.
e. Please explain your points with illustrations, examples, data or alternative formulations of the amendments as far as possible.
7. This draft legislation is released only for the purpose of consultation and should therefore not be used for individual or business decisions as it does not represent the final legislation or regulations. All comments received during the consultation exercise will be reviewed thoroughly and, if accepted, will be incorporated in the Bill for introduction in Parliament.
8. The draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 is available for public consultation from 9 June to 8 July 2006. Comments received by the Ministry after 8 July 2006 will not be considered as they will be too late for incorporation into the final Bill.
Please send us your comments, using the prescribed template, by:
a. email to pc_itabill@mof.gov.sg; or
b. fax to 6337 4134; or
c. post to: Ministry of Finance
100 High Street, #10-01
The Treasury
Singapore 179434
We particularly encourage comments through email as they will reach us faster and speed up the process of consideration.
10. We will publish on the Ministry of Finance website a summary of the main comments we receive together with our responses by 8 September 2006. The summary will not disclose the identity of respondents, and will not separately address or acknowledge every comment received.
11. For your convenience, the relevant documents relating to this public consultation exercise can be downloaded for further reference. Please click here (http://www.mof.gov.sg/consultation_current/public_con_draft_income_download.html).
2. This ITA consultation exercise stretches over one month from 9 June to 8 July 2006. It seeks feedback from all interested parties on areas of the draft legislation that require greater clarity or where compliance can be facilitated.
3. Some of the Budget 2006 tax changes to be legislated include the clarification on tax treatment for qualifying Islamic financial products, enhancements to the tax incentive scheme for foreign trusts and the introduction of a new Maritime Finance Incentive Scheme.
4. In addition to the tax changes announced in Budget 2006, the amendments also provide for other changes or refinements to existing tax policies and administration. This includes the reduction in personal income tax rates, the tax treatment of mutual concerns that are formed as companies limited by guarantee and the revised tax treatment of life insurance companies following the implementation of the Risk Based Capital framework.
5. The consultation papers, draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 and accompanying documents are available at the government’s central consultation portal at http://app.feedback.gov.sg/asp/ocp/ocp01b.asp?id=1&target=All as well as the Ministry of Finance’s website at http://www.mof.gov.sg/consultation_current/index.html. Respondents may send their comments to the Ministry of Finance directly from the website, or separately via email, fax or post.
6. The draft Bill is targeted to be tabled for the First Reading in Parliament in November 2006. To facilitate the timely enactment of the legislation, the Ministry would not be able to consider comments submitted after the deadline of 8 July 2006.
Issued by: Ministry of Finance
8 June 2006
----------------------
BACKGROUND
1. The Ministry of Finance is seeking comments and views on the draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 which sets out the legislative amendments to the Income Tax Act. We invite you to contribute comments on the amendments that have an impact on you. Your views are important as they would help improve the drafting of the legislation.
2. The draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 incorporates all amendments to the Income Tax Act relating to the following tax changes:
(a) Budget 2006 tax changes. These are the tax changes announced by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lee Hsien Loong in his Budget 2006 Statement Some of the highlights of the tax changes are:
- clarification on tax treatment for qualifying Islamic financial products;
- enhancements to the tax incentive scheme for foreign trusts;
- introduction of a new Maritime Finance Incentive Scheme
(b) Other tax changes. These are tax changes or refinements to existing tax policies and administration resulting from on-going reviews of the income tax system. Some examples include:
- the tax treatment of mutual concerns set up as companies limited by guarantee;
- the revised tax treatment of life insurance companies following the implementation of the Risk Based Capital framework.
3. The summary table lists all the tax changes and explains the amendments to the Income Tax Act.
SCOPE OF THE CONSULTATION EXERCISE
4. The aim of this exercise is to obtain feedback on areas of the draft legislation that require greater clarity or would facilitate compliance by companies and taxpayers.
5. This is not a consultation exercise on the policy intent of the amendments, as the policies have already been decided through due process.
6. We seek your full support to ensure that the consultation exercise is productive and focused. Respondents are requested to follow these guidelines:
a. Please identify yourself as well as the organisation you represent (if any) so that we may follow up to clarify any issues, if necessary.
b. Make your comments clear and concise.
c. Please use the prescribed template provided to help us understand your feedback better.
d. Your comments should focus on how the legislative amendments can be better written to make them clearer and to make compliance easier.
e. Please explain your points with illustrations, examples, data or alternative formulations of the amendments as far as possible.
7. This draft legislation is released only for the purpose of consultation and should therefore not be used for individual or business decisions as it does not represent the final legislation or regulations. All comments received during the consultation exercise will be reviewed thoroughly and, if accepted, will be incorporated in the Bill for introduction in Parliament.
8. The draft Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2006 is available for public consultation from 9 June to 8 July 2006. Comments received by the Ministry after 8 July 2006 will not be considered as they will be too late for incorporation into the final Bill.
Please send us your comments, using the prescribed template, by:
a. email to pc_itabill@mof.gov.sg; or
b. fax to 6337 4134; or
c. post to: Ministry of Finance
100 High Street, #10-01
The Treasury
Singapore 179434
We particularly encourage comments through email as they will reach us faster and speed up the process of consideration.
10. We will publish on the Ministry of Finance website a summary of the main comments we receive together with our responses by 8 September 2006. The summary will not disclose the identity of respondents, and will not separately address or acknowledge every comment received.
11. For your convenience, the relevant documents relating to this public consultation exercise can be downloaded for further reference. Please click here (http://www.mof.gov.sg/consultation_current/public_con_draft_income_download.html).
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