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The Singapore Fortitude Budget unveiled measures to strengthen the backbone of Singapore’s ecosystem and provide ammunition to overcome the difficult situation propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Focusing on transforming businesses through digital adoption, innovation and resilience, hear from our experts, Ng Siew Quan, Tan Ching Ne, and Abhijit Ghosh and their Fortitude Budget views in this rapid-fire dialogue. For our in-depth analysis on the Budget, download our commentary here.
Fortitude Budget Dialogue 2020
Fortitude Budget: Key highlights
May 2020
No longer a “good-to-have,” digitalisation has moved up the “must-have” agenda
To help businesses digitalise during these challenging times, the Fortitude Budget has allocated over $500 million to support the digital transformation of businesses through a three-pronged approach:
- Boosting e-payment adoption
- Introducing the Digital Resilience Bonus
- Expanding the National Innovation Challenge
Embracing upskilling and reskilling to stay relevant
Prior to COVID-19, Singapore was already facing mismatches between jobs and skills. As a Smart Nation, Singapore is naturally seeing tasks and jobs being displaced by technology and advanced analytics in a more accelerated fashion than many nations around us.
The newly launched SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package signals a relentless prioritisation on safeguarding and creating jobs through relevant capability and skills building. Through the Fortitude Budget, the Government aims to create 40,000 job opportunities, with 15,000 jobs in the public sector and 25,000 jobs in the private sector.
Explore relevant topics
Resilience Budget
March 2020
Join our experts as they share their insights on helping businesses manage the following risks in the face of COVID-19
- Travel restrictions
- Transfer pricing, trade and supply chain
- Cash and liquidity management
Watch webinar recording by clicking play on the video
Managing Risk in the face of COVID-19
Managing Risk in the face of COVID-19
Unity Budget: Key tax highlights
February 2020
- Corporate income tax
- Goods and services tax
- Tax incentives
- Other tax changes
Corporate income tax
- Corporate income tax rebate at a rate of 25% of tax payable for YA 2020, capped at $15,000.
- Automatic additional two months extension of interestfree instalments for payment of tax on ECI filed within specified period.
- The carry-back relief scheme is enhanced by increasing the carried back years to 3 immediate preceding YAs from the current 1 YA, for YA 2020. Taxpayers may also elect to carry back based on an estimated amount of qualifying deductions, subject to conditions.
- Changes to capital allowance (CA) claim.
- Option to accelerate to:
– 2-year CA claim from the 3-year for qualifying assets acquired in the basis period for YA 2021. Once accelerated write-off is selected, no deferment of claims is allowed.
– 1-year renovation and refurbishment claim from the 3-year (under section 14Q of the Income Tax Act) for qualifying expenditure incurred during the basis period for YA 2021. - Option to simplify section 19 CA claims for qualifying plant and machinery acquired in or after FY 2022 or when acquired prior to the FY, CA claims were deferred.
- Option to accelerate to:
Goods and services tax
- GST rate to remain at 7% in 2021.
- GST will continue to be absorbed on publicly subsidised healthcare and education.
- Assurance Package will be provided when the GST rate is raised.
Tax incentives
- Extend DTDi scheme to 31 December 2025 and the scope is expanded to include qualifying third-party consultancy costs and other qualifying overseas business missions costs for expenses incurred on or after 1 April 2020.
- Extended M&A scheme to cover qualifying acquisitions made on or before 31 December 2025. However, stamp duty relief will lapse for instruments executed on or after 1 April 2020 and no waiver for the condition that the acquiring company must be held by an ultimate holding company that is incorporated in and is a tax resident of Singapore.
- Extend the upfront certainty of non-taxation of companies’ gains on disposal of ordinary shares to 31 December 2027.
- Extend the IBD and IBD-CI schemes to 31 December 2025. However, the IBD-MHL scheme will lapse after 31 March 2020.
- Extended venture capital funding for Singaporebased companies, the Section 13H scheme and Fund Management Incentive to 31 December 2025.
- Section 14E incentive will lapse after 31 March 2020.
- Extended withholding tax exemption for non-resident mediators and arbitrators, and the 10% concessionary withholding tax rate for NRPEs to 31 March 2022.
- Incentives extended to 31 December 2025 include LIA and section 19D WDA.
- Incentives extended to 31 December 2026 include MSI scheme, WHT exemption for qualifying payments made on qualifying financing arrangements, FTC and GTP.
- Lapsed of the Angel Investors Tax Deduction after 31 March 2020.
Other tax changes
- Property tax rebate ranging from 10% to 30% for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020, for qualifying commercial properties such as licensed hotels, serviced apartments, and prescribed Meetings, Incentive, Conferences and Events (MICE) venues.
- Changes to road tax for Electric Vehicles and Hybrid Cars.
Stabilisation & Support Package - Helping Sectors Hit by COVID-19
In a bid to help business sectors hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, the government has announced a series of measures such as loan programmes, rebates, and rental waivers for key industries: Tourism, Aviation, Hawkers, Commercial Tenants and Point-to-Point Sector.
What are the steps your businesses can take to mitigate the impact of COVID-19?
Transformation & Growth
A culture of lifelong learning and skills mastery will help Singaporeans prepare and position ourselves strategically for this uncertain and rapidly advancing future.
Watch as our experts share their insights on how the Budget measures will impact your business.
Whether it's tax measures to help businesses cope with immediate headwinds or enhancements made to our tax systems to enable economic growth, there’s no question that Singapore Budget 2020 is centred on supporting businesses through these trying times and positioning the country and its people for the next bound of growth.
Watch as our experts breakdown the Budget measures that can help your business address your near-term challenges and long term needs.
Views from experts
Singapore Resilience Budget Roundup
Buying time to prevent living on borrowed time. To ensure Singapore’s economic integrity outlasts the COVID-19 crisis, the $48 billion Resilience Budget serves to help absorb market shocks and buy time for remedial actions. Businesses need to leverage this window and #transform themselves for the long term, keeping in
Singapore Resilience Budget Roundup
Buying time to prevent living on borrowed time. To ensure Singapore’s economic integrity outlasts the COVID-19 crisis, the $48 billion Resilience Budget serves...
Singapore Budget 2020 Roundup
This year's winners go to industries most hard-hit by COVID-19, local enterprises with #transformation initiatives underway, the #workforce across all age groups and there's a "bonus" for all of us - the GST rate will not be raised in 2021. Watch Abhijit Ghosh our Tax Markets Leader, roundup SGBudget2020 in 2 minutes.
Who are the winners for this year's Budget?
Local enterprises with transformation initiatives underway, the workforce across all age groups, industries most hard-hit by COVD-19 and there's a "bonus" for all of us - the GST rate will not be raised in 2021. Watch Abhijit Ghosh roundup SG Budget 2020 in 2 minutes.
Singapore Budget 2020 for SMEs
Like how ships need good captains, SMEs need strong leaders. One of the things that stood out in Singapore Budget 2020 is the call for greater enterprise leadership to steer SMEs through these changing times. Hear from our Entrepreneurial and Private Business Partner, Dr. Wilson Chew, on his take of what this year’s
Like how ships need good captains, SMEs need strong leaders.
One of the things that stood out in SGBudget2020 is the call for greater enterprise leadership to steer SMEs through these changing times. Hear from our Entrepreneurial and Private Business Partner, Dr. Wilson Chew, on his take of what this year’s Budget measures mean for SMEs.
News & Insights
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Tan Ching Ne
Fang Eu-Lin
Abhijit Ghosh
Sam Kok Weng
Paul Lau
Kexin Lim
Martijn Schouten
People and Organisation - Workforce Transformation Leader, South East Asia Consulting, PwC Singapore
+65 9667 4961
Ng Siew Quan
Greg Unsworth
Chris Woo
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