Unofficial Guide to CoR Application

Ada tambahan Info dari milis yang diposting sama Cak Ainun, dari Indonesian yang kerja di IRAS, please read disclaimer
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GENERAL FAQ

1. How does IRAS provide proof of Spore Tax Residency for Indonesian paying tax to Spore under the following category:

i. Working in Spore:

• Indonesian citizens who are Spore PRs (SPRs) and have established a permanent home in Singapore; or
• Indonesian citizens who has stayed in Singapore for 183 days or more in the year preceding the YA; or
• Indonesian citizens (who is not a director of a company) who has worked in Singapore for 183 days or more in the year preceding the YA.

ii. Doing Business in Spore.

iii. Having investment in Spore.

COR is a certificate to certify that a person is treated as a "resident for income tax purpose". IRAS will only issue the COR upon request from the person.

In general, under definition of section 2 of the Income Tax Act, a person is treated as "resident for income tax purposes" if in the year preceding the year of assessment:

a. He is residing in Singapore except for such temporary absences therefrom
as may be reasonable and not inconsistent with a claim by such person to be
resident in Singapore (Qualitative Test);or

b. He is physically present or who exercise an employment (other than as a
director of a company) in Singapore for 183 days or more during the year
preceding the year of assessment (Quantitative Test).

This is a simple test to determine whether a person is to be treated as a resident for tax purposes.
If an Indonesian is working in Singapore for 183 days or more in the year 2008, or physically present (not necessary must be working here) in Singapore for 183 days or more in year 2008, he will be treated as a resident for Income Tax purposes for the Year of Assessment 2009.

2. What is the proof of Spore Tax Residency if the income in a particular YA is below taxable income threshold of that YA?
COR is accepted by other tax authorities. Please refer to the above definition of "resident".
A person's income is not a factor to determine his resident status.

3. What is the definition of "a permanent home in Singapore"?
Many are renting flats or rooms. Are these considered as "a permanent home in Singapore"? Generally, a permanent home in Singapore means a person has a permanent place to stay in Singapore. It does not matter whether the house is owned by him or rented by him.

A "permanent home in Singapore" is most commonly used in the qualitative test as mentioned above. It is usually a factor to consider a person's resident status if he does not satisfy the quantitative test.

FILLING UP COR APPLICATION
4. For Indonesian citizens who are Spore Tax Residents and do not earn any income in Indonesia:

a. Nature of Income (e.g. dividend, interest) derived from treaty country = N.A
b. Amount of Income = N.A
c. Has the overseas income been remitted to Singapore? Please tick the relevant box (es) accordingly. Put the tick in the box "No, I will not be remitting the overseas income to S'pore"

5. Can we request for COR of more than 1 YAs on a single request form?
Yes, you can.

6. Can the COR be requested for back year YAs? What are the maximum back years allowable?Yes, you can too. No limitation in no. of back years. It depends on what the person started to pay his tax.For example, if a person started to work in Singapore for in 2007, IRAS can only certify for YA 2008 onwards. That is no back year involved in this scenario.

7. How long will it take for COR to be issued since submission of request?For urgent cases, please submit the form directly to IRAS officers at Tax Payer Service Center, level 1, Revenue House instead of submission by post.

REFERENCES
1. COR Form can be downloaded from the following path:http://www.iras/. gov.sg/irasHome/ page03.aspx? id=284
2. For other inquiries, you can visit http://www.iras.gov/. sg or call IRAS at thenumbers found here:http://www.iras/. gov.sg/irasHome/ page.aspx? id=84

DISCLAIMER
This guideline should not be treated as an official reply from IRAS. All information above can be found in http://www.iras.gov/. sg but condensed in Q&A format (many more can be found in IRAS website).
For any other queries, you are strongly advised to contact IRAS directly.
*(as at 25 Nov 2008)*