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Tax and Revenue Management

Singapore records top e-filing rate

By Johanna Morden | 26 May 2011

Singapore’s tax authority has reported a 96 per cent e-filing rate in 2011, up two per cent from last year.

870,000 taxpayers used myTax Portal, the online tax gateway of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) until the 2011 filing due date of April 18.

The recorded rate is also higher than the agency’s target of 95 per cent for this year.

The IRAS surpassed its target by boosting the efficiency and the user-friendliness of its e-services.

The myTax Portal was recently equipped with a new tax calculator feature that allows taxpayers to get an estimate of the tax payable that will appear onscreen immediately after e-filing. The new feature was designed to aid taxpayers in planning their tax payments, while streamlining the e-filing process.

The Portal also provides a summary of tax savings tips for sole-proprietors and partners under the Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme.

Other self-help feature of the Portal includes an Interactive e-Filing Guide and a “Filetax” SMS Mobile Service, the most popular service on the website, which enables taxpayers to check through their mobile phones if they are required to file or if the IRAS has received their tax returns.

The IRAS has reported a 39 per cent increase this year in the usage of the SMS Mobile Service among taxpayers.

Other improvements were also noted, with the number of calls to the e-Filing helpine declining 39 per cent, from about 25,000 calls in 2010 to 17,000 this year.

In addition, only one in six taxpayers had to log into the myTax Portal to make changes to their relief claims.

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