ExpatBriefing: Singapore Hikes Foreign Worker Tax Significantly

By Hans Esser, for ExpatBriefing.com 28 February, 2018

Singapore is to hike its levy on companies hiring foreign workers from April 1, 2019.

The levy for the first foreign working employed will rise to SGD300 from SGD265 and a higher levy will be payable for each subsequent worker, of SGD450, up from SGD265.

Singapore's foreign worker levy, paid by employers in lieu of payment of Central Provident Fund contributions, is intended to regulate the number of foreign workers in Singapore.

About 80 percent of Singaporean employers of foreign workers instead pay a concessionary levy of SGD60 per month. To be eligible, the hired worker must have young children below the age of 16, or they must have elderly dependents or care for a person with disabilities. This rate was unchanged in the Budget but, prospectively, the qualifying age for an elderly person for the purposes of the concession will be 67, rather than 65.

Tags: Expatriates | Tax | Law | Singapore | Expats |