IRAS nabs 279 high-income earners over sham arrangements to pay less tax
Singapore's tax authority, IRAS, has recovered $49 million from 279 high-income earners who used sham corporate structures to avoid personal income taxes. The authority is cracking down on arrangements that lack genuine business purpose beyond tax avoidance.
Why it matters
This enforcement action underscores government efforts to ensure tax compliance among high-net-worth individuals and maintain the integrity of the tax system.
SINGAPORE – The taxman has caught 279 high-income earners to date for using sham arrangements such as setting up private companies to receive their income to avoid paying more tax.
Out of this group, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) probed 124 cases from 2021 to 2025 and clawed back $49 million in additional tax.
All but one of these cases involved taxpayers extracting profits as tax-exempt dividends or interest-free shareholder loans.
Unlike tax evasion, which is a crime involving hiding and falsifying income, tax avoidance by channelling funds through various arrangements is not an offence, but these moves can result in additional taxes and surcharges being levied if there is no real purpose for these transactions other than paying less tax.
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