IRAS nabs 279 high-income earners over sham arrangements to pay less tax
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has identified 279 high-income earners who used sham corporate structures to avoid paying personal income taxes. The tax authority has successfully clawed back $49 million by targeting these contrived arrangements.
Why it matters
This highlights the government's crackdown on tax avoidance schemes used by wealthy individuals to exploit corporate tax rate differentials.
The taxman said 279 high-income earners were caught for sham arrangements to avoid paying more tax.
Listen 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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