What IRAS does when a Singapore company files its corporate tax return late, what it costs, and how the exposure moves from the company to the director.
Corporate income tax returns are due on 30 November every year, and that date applies to every company. Miss it and the trouble doesn't start with a fine. It starts with IRAS estimating your income for you.
Here's what that means in practice, what IRAS can do next, and what to do if the date has already gone.
Your two tax deadlines run on different clocks
| Filing | When it's due |
| Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) | Within 3 months of your financial year end |
| Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite) or Form C | 30 November, for every company |
ECI is your estimate of taxable profits for the Year of Assessment. You don't need to file it if your annual revenue is S$5 million or below and your ECI is nil. Both, not either. If you qualify there's nothing to apply for and nobody to tell.
The 30 November deadline has no equivalent let-off. It applies whatever your financial year end, and it applies to dormant companies - a dormant company still e-files the Form for Dormant Company, unless IRAS has waived the return altogether.
Your annual return to ACRA is a different obligation on a different clock, with its own penalties. We cover that in our guide to annual return late filing penalties.
What IRAS does when you file late
Missing the deadline for your return, financial statements and tax computation is an offence. IRAS has four moves, and they're not a queue you work through. More than one can land at once.
1. An estimated Notice of Assessment
IRAS estimates your income from previous years or whatever else it has, and assesses you on that. When it estimates, it may assume your income has gone up.
You've then got one month from the date on the Notice of Assessment to pay it. That's true even if you think it's wrong, and even while an objection is sitting with them. Late payment penalties apply to the estimated figure.
You can object within two months. But the assessment only gets revised if you send the return, financial statements and tax computation with the objection. Object on its own and the estimate stands. Send the lot and they'll review it, and refund anything you've overpaid.
This is the bit that catches people. Not filing doesn't leave the question open. It produces a tax bill based on IRAS's assumptions, due in a month.
2. An offer of composition
Rather than prosecute, IRAS may offer to compound the offence. The composition amount goes up to S$5,000 per offence, depending on your compliance record.
To avoid prosecution you need to do both things: pay the composition amount, and file the overdue return and documents by the date given. Paying without filing doesn't close it. Legal action can still follow, and your payment just gets applied against unpaid tax.
You can't pay it by GIRO, and you'll need the payment slip number.
3. A Section 65B(3) notice to your director
This is where it stops being a company matter.
IRAS can issue a notice under Section 65B(3) of the Income Tax Act to your director personally, requiring them to provide the information for the return by a stated date.
A director convicted of not complying faces a fine of up to S$10,000, up to 12 months in prison, or both, for each offence.
That's worth comparing. The company's maximum fine is S$5,000. The director's is twice that, with prison on the table. The escalation runs towards the individual, not away.
4. A Notice to Attend Court, or a summons
This goes to the company, the directors, or both, when IRAS hasn't had the return and documents by the due date, or the composition amount hasn't been paid.
To stay out of court you need to file the outstanding return and documents and pay the composition amount by the deadline in the notice.
If you need more time, someone still has to turn up. A company representative, even where that's the director, has to attend on the date given, with a Letter of Authorisation, and ask for a postponement there.
Don't attend and further legal action follows, which can include a warrant of arrest against the director. On conviction the company faces a fine of up to S$5,000 for each offence.
Two years or more unfiled
This one has its own consequence, and it's the one that scales with your profits.
If you haven't filed for two years or more, you may get a Notice to Attend Court, and on conviction the court can order, for each offence:
- A penalty of twice the tax assessed, and
- A fine of up to S$5,000
The doubling is on the tax, not on the penalty. For a profitable company two years behind, that's the number to pay attention to.
Why you can be penalised when you owe no tax
The offence is not filing, not failing to pay. A company with no profits still has to submit, and can still be compounded or prosecuted for missing the date.
It's also how a company with nothing to pay ends up owing money. No return means an estimated assessment, the estimate can assume growth, and the tax on it falls due in a month whether or not your real position was nil.
Filing late and paying late are different penalties
They run separately, and you can be caught by both at once.
| What's late | What applies |
| The filing | Composition up to S$5,000 per offence, an estimated assessment, prosecution |
| The payment | 5% penalty on the unpaid tax |
| The payment, still outstanding after 60 days | A further 1% for each completed month, capped at 12% |
IRAS can also appoint your bank, your tenant or your lawyer as an agent to collect overdue tax directly.
Can you get the penalty waived?
You can, and it's quicker and narrower than most people expect.
Appeals against a composition amount go through the Appeal Penalty Waiver service in myTax Portal. It takes three to five minutes, you get an instant outcome, and a successful appeal shows in your tax account within three working days. You'll need the Year of Assessment, and the appellant's designation, contact number and email address.
Don't appeal by myTax Mail, email or phone. IRAS asks for the digital service specifically, and anything else slows it down.
Two conditions decide it, and this is where most appeals fall over:
- You've submitted the outstanding returns and documents before the due date in the composition offer, and the filing shows in your tax account
- You've filed on time for the past two years
There's no hardship case to make and nothing to attach. You either meet both conditions or you don't.
On extensions: for the current Year of Assessment you can ask for more time through the Request Extension of Time to File service in myTax Portal. Once a Notice to Attend Court or a summons has been issued, that door closes and your representative has to ask the court instead.
Missed the deadline? Start here
- File the outstanding return, financial statements and tax computation. Everything else follows from this, and nothing gets better until it's done
- If you've had an estimated assessment, pay it within the month even if you plan to object, then object within two months with the full set of documents
- If you've had an offer of composition, pay it and file by the date given. Both, not one
- If a director has had a Section 65B(3) notice, treat it as personal and urgent
- If there's a court date, someone attends, whatever else is in progress
Where several years are outstanding, it's the accounting that sets the timeline, not the filing.
Keeping it from happening again
Corporate tax runs on a fixed date that doesn't move with your financial year end, and that's exactly why it gets missed - it isn't pegged to anything else in your calendar. What prevents all of the above is closing the accounts early enough to file in good time, and knowing whether ECI applies to you at all.
That's what our corporate income tax compliance service covers.
Frequently asked questions
When is the corporate income tax return due in Singapore?
30 November each year, for every company, whatever your financial year end.
What's the penalty for filing a corporate tax return late?
IRAS may offer to compound the offence for up to S$5,000 per offence, depending on your compliance record. On conviction in court, the company faces a fine of up to S$5,000 per offence.
What happens if I don't file at all?
IRAS can issue an estimated Notice of Assessment based on previous years, and may assume your income has increased. The estimated tax is due within one month, even if you object.
What happens if a company hasn't filed for two years or more?
On conviction the court can order a penalty of twice the tax assessed, plus a fine of up to S$5,000, for each offence.
Can a director be penalised personally?
Yes. A Section 65B(3) notice goes to the director, and conviction for not complying carries a fine of up to S$10,000, up to 12 months in prison, or both.
Does a dormant company still need to file?
Yes, unless IRAS has granted a waiver. A dormant company e-files the Form for Dormant Company.
Can I appeal a composition amount?
Through the Appeal Penalty Waiver service in myTax Portal, with an instant outcome. It's only considered if you've filed the outstanding returns before the date in the composition offer, and filed on time for the previous two years.
Is late filing the same as late payment?
No. Late payment carries 5% on the unpaid tax, then a further 1% per completed month after 60 days, capped at 12%.
References
- IRAS, Late filing or non-filing of Corporate Income Tax Returns, last updated 10 August 2026: https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/corporate-income-tax/form-c-s-form-c-s-(lite)-form-c-filing/late-filing-or-non-filing-of-Corporate-Income-Tax-Returns-form-c-s-form-c-s-(Lite)-form-c
- IRAS, Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) filing, last updated 10 August 2026: https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/corporate-income-tax/estimated-chargeable-income-(eci)-filing
- IRAS, Late payment or non-payment of Corporate Income Tax, last updated 10 August 2026: https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/corporate-income-tax/corporate-income-tax-payment/late-payment-or-non-payment-of-corporate-income-tax
