How to File Income Tax Singapore 2026: IRAS e-Filing Walkthrough

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Quick answer

File your Year of Assessment 2026 income tax return at the myTax Portal (mytax.iras.gov.sg) by 18 April 2026, covering income you earned in 2025. If your employer is on the Auto-Inclusion Scheme and IRAS has sent you a No-Filing Service notification, your tax is calculated automatically and you do not need to do anything unless you have additional income or reliefs to declare.

The numbers at a glance

Who needs to file (and who doesn't)

You are required to file an income tax return for YA2026 if any of the following apply:

• Your total income in 2025 exceeded $22,000. This includes employment income, rental income, freelance or trade income, interest from non-bank sources, director fees, and any other taxable receipts.
• You are self-employed and your net trade income (revenue minus allowable business expenses) exceeded $6,000 in 2025.
• You are a non-resident who received income sourced in Singapore during 2025.

The Auto-Inclusion Scheme and No-Filing Service. Most employees in Singapore work for employers that participate in IRAS's Auto-Inclusion Scheme. Under AIS, your employer submits your employment income figures — salary, bonuses, benefits-in-kind — electronically to IRAS by 1 March each year. This data is pre-loaded into your myTax Portal account. If IRAS determines that your pre-filled information is complete and you have no other income to declare, you will receive a No-Filing Service notification. This means IRAS computes your tax automatically — you do not need to log in and file, and your Notice of Assessment will be issued in May or June.

You can safely skip filing if you have received an NFS notification and all of the following are true: your only income is employment income from an AIS employer, you have no rental or freelance income, and you have no additional reliefs to claim beyond what IRAS has already captured.

If your employer is not on AIS, you must obtain your Form IR8A by 1 March and key your employment income figures into myTax Portal manually. Do not wait for IRAS to contact you.

Step-by-step: how to file on myTax Portal

Step 1 — Log in. Go to mytax.iras.gov.sg and select "Log in with Singpass". You will need your Singpass app or physical token. Foreigners without Singpass can use the IRAS PIN, which must be requested in advance.

Step 2 — Navigate to your return. From the dashboard, select "Individuals" and then "File Income Tax Return". Confirm the Year of Assessment is 2026 and that you are filing as a tax resident.

Step 3 — Review pre-filled income. Your employment income, CPF contributions, and any other data submitted under AIS will be displayed. Check these figures against your payslips and CPF statement. If your employer submitted incorrect figures, contact your employer to request a correction through IRAS — do not override the figures yourself without documentation.

Step 4 — Add income that is not pre-filled. Declare any income that does not appear automatically: rental income from property, freelance or consultancy fees, director fees from companies not on AIS, overseas income remitted to Singapore, and any other assessable receipts. Rental income is reported as gross rent minus allowable deductions (mortgage interest, maintenance fees, property tax, fire insurance, and a 15% deemed rental expense option).

Step 5 — Claim your reliefs. Navigate to the reliefs section and claim each relief you are entitled to. Many reliefs such as CPF contributions are auto-filled; others such as parent relief, course fees relief, and NSman relief require manual entry. The portal shows a running total against the $80,000 cap.

Step 6 — Submit and save. Review the summary screen carefully. Once satisfied, click "Submit". The portal generates a confirmation page with a reference number. Download or print the PDF acknowledgement — this is your proof of filing. You cannot retrieve it again later.

The reliefs most people miss

With a $80,000 relief cap, every dollar of missed relief is a dollar of unnecessarily taxable income. These are the reliefs that eligible taxpayers most often overlook:

Course fees relief — up to $5,500 per year for qualifying courses that lead to an approved academic, professional, or vocational qualification. The course must be related to your current or prospective employment. Many working professionals who pay for certifications, diplomas, or part-time degrees never claim this.

NSman relief — $1,500 for an active NSman, $3,000 for a key appointment holder. The NSman's wife can claim $750 in NSman wife relief, and each of his parents can claim $750 in NSman parent relief. These reliefs are often left unclaimed by family members who are unaware of their entitlement.

Parent relief — $5,500 per dependent parent not living with you, or $9,000 per dependent parent living with you. The parent must be at least 55 years old, a Singapore tax resident, and must not have earned more than $4,000 in 2025. For a handicapped parent, the amounts increase to $10,000 (not living with) or $14,000 (living with). Taxpayers who financially support parents without sharing a household routinely miss the $5,500 relief.

SRS contributions — contributions made to your Supplementary Retirement Scheme account in 2025 (up to $15,300 for Singapore Citizens and PRs; up to $35,700 for foreigners) qualify as a tax relief dollar for dollar. Contributions made before 31 December 2025 are deductible in YA2026.

Life insurance relief — up to $5,000 per year for qualifying life insurance premiums, but only if your mandatory CPF contributions for 2025 were below $5,000. This typically applies to self-employed persons who make voluntary CPF contributions.

Worked example of the cap. A taxpayer earning $200,000 with CPF contributions of $20,400, earned income relief of $1,000, parent relief of $9,000, SRS contributions of $15,300, and course fees relief of $5,500 has total reliefs of $51,200 — comfortably under the $80,000 cap. Adding NSman relief of $1,500 and a qualifying child relief of $4,000 brings the total to $56,700. The cap does not bite here, but for taxpayers with multiple children and two dependent parents, it can.

CPF and income tax: what is automatically deducted vs what you claim

Employee CPF contributions are deducted from your gross salary before your taxable income is calculated. This happens automatically — you do not need to do anything. Your employer reports your gross employment income to IRAS, and your CPF contributions are pre-filled as a relief in your tax return. The contribution reduces your assessable income by the amount of your Ordinary Wage and Additional Wage contributions, subject to the annual wage ceiling of $102,000.

Employer CPF contributions are not your income and are not taxable. They do not appear in your tax return.

Voluntary CPF top-ups — cash top-ups to your own or a family member's CPF Special Account (or Retirement Account) under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme — qualify for a separate tax relief of up to $8,000 for your own top-up and an additional $8,000 for a family member's top-up. These are not the same as mandatory employee contributions and must be claimed manually.

SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme) is entirely separate from CPF. SRS is a voluntary savings scheme maintained by the three local banks (DBS, OCBC, UOB). Contributions to SRS reduce your chargeable income dollar for dollar up to the annual cap. Withdrawals at or after age 62 are taxed at 50% of the amount withdrawn, making SRS a form of tax deferral rather than permanent exemption.

A common point of confusion: CPF contributions automatically reduce your taxable income and are reflected in the pre-filled return. SRS contributions require you to key in the amount yourself under the reliefs section. Do not confuse the two or double-claim them.

When to use the Income Tax Calculator

Reading about tax brackets is useful. Knowing your actual bill is better. Our Income Tax Calculator lets you enter your employment income, add other income sources, and model the effect of every relief discussed in this article — including the $80,000 cap — to see your estimated chargeable income, tax payable, and effective tax rate side by side.

Use it before you file to check whether you are missing any reliefs and to confirm your expected assessment matches what myTax Portal shows. It is also useful for planning: if you are considering an SRS contribution before 31 December 2025, the calculator can show exactly how much tax you would save at your marginal rate. The results are estimates based on resident individual rates for YA2026 — for complex situations involving non-resident income or business income, consult a tax professional.

Common mistakes and penalties

Forgetting to declare rental or freelance income. Rental income and freelance earnings are assessable and must be declared even if they are small. IRAS cross-checks with property records and payment data. The most common omission is rental from a room sublet — this is still taxable income net of allowable expenses.

Claiming reliefs you do not qualify for. Parent relief requires the parent to be a Singapore tax resident and to have earned no more than $4,000 in 2025. Claiming relief for a parent who worked part-time and exceeded this threshold is an error that can trigger a IRAS query or reassessment.

Assuming AIS means everything is handled. An NFS notification only covers the income and reliefs IRAS already knows about. If you had freelance income in 2025, or if you want to claim parent relief or course fees relief, you must log in and file manually even if you received an NFS notification.

Missing the 18 April deadline. Late filing results in enforcement action. IRAS may issue a Summons, and a penalty of 5% of the tax assessed is applied to late payment. For a taxpayer with a $5,000 tax bill, that is $250 immediately. Continued non-compliance can result in a court appearance, a fine of up to $1,000 for a first offence, and a court-imposed penalty of up to twice the unpaid tax for wilful omissions.

Not updating your address for NOA delivery. Your Notice of Assessment is mailed to your registered address in myInfo. If you have moved and not updated your details, you may miss your NOA and be unaware of a tax bill or refund. Update your address on myInfo before filing season.

Bottom line

Filing your YA2026 income tax return is straightforward if you file on time and review your pre-filled data carefully. The deadline is 18 April 2026, the threshold for compulsory filing is total income above $22,000, and the maximum you can deduct through reliefs is $80,000. Most salaried employees under AIS will find their return largely complete when they log in — the task is checking the figures, claiming any missed reliefs, and declaring any income that IRAS does not already know about. The single most valuable action you can take before submitting is to run your numbers through the Income Tax Calculator to confirm your expected chargeable income and catch any reliefs you may have overlooked.

FAQ

What is the deadline to file income tax in Singapore for YA2026?

The deadline to file your YA2026 income tax return is 18 April 2026 for e-filing via the myTax Portal. Filing opens on 1 March 2026. If you need more time, you can apply for an extension of up to 14 days through the "Apply for Extension of Time to File" function on myTax Portal — but extensions are not automatic and must be requested before the deadline. Paper filing has an earlier deadline. IRAS strongly encourages e-filing, which is faster, more accurate, and generates immediate confirmation.

Do I need to file income tax if my employer is on the Auto-Inclusion Scheme?

Not necessarily. If your employer participates in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS), your employment income is submitted electronically to IRAS and pre-filled in your tax return. IRAS may then issue you a No-Filing Service (NFS) notification, which means your tax bill is computed automatically and you do not need to file — provided you have no other income to declare and no additional reliefs to claim. However, if you have rental income, freelance earnings, overseas income, or reliefs not captured by IRAS, you must still log in to myTax Portal and file a return.

What is the personal income tax relief cap for YA2026?

The total personal income tax relief cap for YA2026 is $80,000. This means that even if the combined value of all reliefs you are eligible for — CPF contributions, earned income relief, parent relief, NSman relief, course fees relief, SRS contributions, and others — exceeds $80,000, only $80,000 will be deducted from your chargeable income. The cap applies to the total of all reliefs claimed in a single Year of Assessment. It does not affect your CPF Ordinary Account contributions, which are counted separately and reduce your assessable income at source.

What are the most commonly claimed income tax reliefs in Singapore?

The reliefs most frequently claimed by Singapore tax residents include: employee CPF contributions (auto-filled and not subject to the $80,000 cap separately); earned income relief of $1,000 for those under 55, $6,000 for those aged 55 to 59, and $8,000 for those aged 60 and above; qualifying child relief of $4,000 per child; parent relief of $5,500 or $9,000 per dependent parent depending on whether you live with them; course fees relief of up to $5,500 per year; and SRS contribution relief for those who contribute to a Supplementary Retirement Scheme account. NSman relief is also significant for eligible servicemen and their families.

What happens if I miss the income tax filing deadline in Singapore?

Missing the 18 April 2026 e-filing deadline can result in enforcement action from IRAS. IRAS may issue a Summons requiring you to file within a specified period, and a penalty of 5% of the tax assessed is imposed on late payment of tax. Continued non-compliance can lead to a court summons, fines of up to $1,000 for a first offence, and potentially double the tax amount for wilful omissions. The best course of action if you cannot file on time is to apply for an extension of up to 14 days on myTax Portal before the deadline, or contact IRAS directly to explain your circumstances.