The Chamber held its annual close-door dialogue with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) on 24 July 2020. More than 100 finance and tax professionals and C-level executives joined the webinar. Mr Jordan Li, Senior Associate (Tax Strategy) from MOF provided updates on Budget 2020 and the enhanced support rolled out by the government to help businesses and individuals tide through the Covid-19 crisis. He also shared about the international tax developments and BEPS 2.0.

After the presentation, participants had a chance to raise questions during the dialogue session with the panellists. The panel comprised of Ms Doreen Tan, Chief Tax Policy Officer, MOF and Ms Chiam Yah Fang, Deputy Commissioner (Business), IRAS. The dialogue was moderated by Ms Leong Soon San, Co-Chair of the Chamber’s Tax Policy Interest Group, and Tax Director, Asia Pacific & Global Transfer Pricing Advisory, BP Singapore.

Some key takeaways from the dialogue include:

• MOF and IRAS maintain their regular engagement with stakeholders and businesses in reviewing tax policies to ensure they remain relevant
• The inclusive framework for BEPS in working towards a consensus-based solution that will modify international rules for CIT in Pillar 1 & 2
• The driving forces that help to shape the post-Covid world – Increasing Premium Paid by Company, Rise of Asia and Digitalisation
• The close cooperation between the government and the private sector to attract and retain foreign investment in Singapore
• The need for job creation and retention to help individual to stay employ during this pandemic period

We would like to thank Jordan for his very informative presentation, and Doreen, Yah Fang and Soon San for their candour and enthusiasm during the Q & A dialogue. The Chamber also thanks the members of the audience for their active participation.