Filing IR8A for Employee Earnings in Singapore

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Filing IR8A for Employee Earnings in Singapore

HR teams often find managing IR8A submissions to be a tedious and challenging process. Any error, omission, and inaccuracy can result in substantial fines that could potentially hinder the business's operations.

To make it easier for HR professionals, here’s an all-inclusive guide with the necessary tools to navigate the intricate IR8A filings and protect your business against potential financial losses.

What Is the Purpose of IR8A Form?

First, let's talk about the IR8A form and other required tax files. In Singapore, employers have to report to IRAS about the total earnings of their employees for the whole year. Both individuals and businesses must make the report through the IR8A form.

IR8A (Employment Income) is a "Return of Employee's Remuneration" where it contains all the information needed to complete the filing of an employee's income tax return.

Who Needs to File IR8A?

The IR8A form is required for all of these employees:

  • Full-time resident employee
  • Part-time resident employee
  • Non-resident employee
  • Company director (including a non-resident director)
  • Pensioner
  • Board Member receiving Board/Committee Member fees
  • Employee who has left the company but was in receipt of income in 2020 (e.g stock options gains)

What Are the Other Required Tax Files?

  • Appendix 8A (for payments of benefits-in-kind)
  • Appendix 8B (gains from Employee Stock Option)
  • Form IR8S (if excess CPF payments were made)

Take note that these forms must be submitted to IRAS by 1st March each year. If employers fail to comply, they may face charges under Section 94 of the Income Tax Act. Upon conviction, they may need to settle with a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment of up to 6 months. [2]

What is the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS)?

With the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS), HRs can electronically submit the employees' IR8A information to IRAS. The submitted details will be automatically included in the employees' income tax assessment.

This way, there's no need to manually declare the lump sum amounts every year as well as issue the same forms to employees separately. It's also a much more convenient option for the employees because they don’t need to manually update all information.

As of 2021, it's compulsory for all employers with 5 or more employees to participate in AIS. IRAS will send a notice to electronically file the employment income of the employees.

It is also compulsory for employers who have received the "Notice to File Employment Income of Employees Electronically under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS)".

For employers who didn't receive any notification from IRAS, you are encouraged to inform them at ais@iras.gov.sg.

For employers who are not under AIS, it’s required to provide the necessary forms to the employees by 1st March for them to file their income tax returns.

How to Fill Out and Submit the IR8A Form?

To help you navigate through the complicated and deadline-driven process, here’s a simple guide on how to submit the IR8A form with or without an HRMS software.

Submitting Form WITHOUT HRMS Software:

  1. For HR teams who are managing the IR8A submission without an HR software, the first thing to do is to submit an online application at the myTax Portal. [3]
  2. Log in to myTax Portal. From the left-hand menu, select ‘Employment Income (AIS Online Application)’ under e-Submission.
  3. Register for the CPF Data Link-up Service to allow IRAS to obtain employees’ data submitted by employers for CPF contributions from the CPF Board.
  4. The data will be pre-filled in the AIS Online Application for employers when they submit employment income information to IRAS. Verify and adjust employees’ income information before submitting.

Submitting Form WITH HR Software:

  1. For those who are participating in AIS for the first time, they must first authorise the staff-in-charge or the payroll vendor to submit the employment income information on their behalf at CorpPass. [5]
  2. After confirming the authorisation, download the required tax forms from the IRAS official website to check the list of the required information. [6]
    For HRMS software like QuickHR, the tax forms can be automatically generated by the system.
  3. A full-spectrum HRMS software such as QuickHR is directly integrated with IRAS through API, allowing employers to validate and submit employment income information through the automated platform.
    QuickHR can automatically generate pre-populated tax files that can be submitted using the Validation and Submission Application. You may download the latest Validation and Submission Application at the official website of IRAS.[4]

Let Us Help You Streamline Your IR8A Submissions and Reporting

To help organisations prevent any legal complications and heavy fines and penalties, QuickHR offers auto-inclusion and full regulatory compliance features.

Being an IRAS approved software solution, QuickHR guarantees smooth submissions by handling IRAS season with direct AIS linkage of payroll information captured on the system.

QuickHR also provides hassle-free and 24/7 accessibility to employees’ data across all mobile devices, offering an adaptable solution for both HR professionals and employees to process and access real-time records.

Most importantly, we have a dedicated team who assist in the implementation and utilisation of every module as well as other general queries.

From account setup to data migration and training, we will walk you through every process, whether you are new to payroll, or switching providers.

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Sources:

  • [1] https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/tax-bill-and-payment/making-changes-after-filing-receiving-tax-bill/errors-in-tax-returns
  • [2] https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/employers/auto-inclusion-scheme-(ais)-for-employment-income/join-the-auto-inclusion-scheme-(ais)-for-employment-income
  • [3] https://mytax.iras.gov.sg/ESVWeb/default.aspx
  • [4] https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/employers/auto-inclusion-scheme-(ais)-for-employment-income/submit-employment-income-records#title1
  • [5] https://www.iras.gov.sg/digital-services/others/corppass
  • [6] https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/employers/auto-inclusion-scheme-(ais)-for-employment-income/reporting-employee-earnings-(ir8a-appendix-8a-appendix-8b-ir8s)
  • [7] https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/tax-bill-and-payment/making-changes-after-filing-receiving-tax-bill