Singapore taxes for Americans and your US return

Singapore will probably tax you less than California ever did. The catch is that Uncle Sam still taxes you on everything, and there's no treaty between the two countries to smooth the edges.

The short version

Singapore taxes income earned in Singapore. Work done here is taxable wherever your paycheck lands, and most foreign-sourced income received by individuals is exempt [3].
Residents pay progressive rates from 0% to 24%. The first SGD 20,000 (about USD 15,650) is tax-free [1][5].
Residency turns on 183 days, with concessions for foreigners who work here across two or three calendar years [2].
There's no US–Singapore income tax treaty and no Social Security totalization agreement [6][7].
You still file a US return. Because Singapore's tax is low, the foreign earned income exclusion often does more work than the foreign tax credit [8][9].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (USD 1 = SGD 1.2776), rounded.

How Singapore taxes you

Singapore taxes on a territorial basis. Income is taxable if it's earned in or derived from Singapore, whatever your residence [1]. For employees, the key point is where you do the work: income from a job performed in Singapore is taxable here regardless of where the employer sits or where the money is paid [3]. So a remote job for a US company, done from your condo in Novena, is Singapore income.

The flip side is generous. Individuals generally don't pay Singapore tax on foreign-sourced income, unless a resident receives it through a Singapore partnership [3]. Dividends from Singapore companies are exempt under the one-tier system [3]. Your US brokerage dividends and the rent from your house in Oakland aren't Singapore's business. They are the IRS's business, though.

Resident or not: the 183-day rule

Your residency decides your rates, so it matters a lot in your first and last years.

You're a tax resident for a year of assessment if you were physically present or employed in Singapore (other than as a company director) for 183 days or more in the previous calendar year [2]. Foreigners also get two concessions [2]:

The two-year concession: if you work here continuously across two calendar years for at least 183 days in total, you're treated as resident for both years. This doesn't cover company directors, public entertainers or professionals.
The three-year concession: if you stay or work here over three consecutive calendar years, you're treated as resident for all three, even if the first and last are partial.

Very short stints get a pass too: employment in Singapore of no more than 60 days in a calendar year is generally exempt, except for directors and public entertainers [3].

Singapore's tax year is the calendar year, but it's called the year of assessment (YA) for the year after. Income you earn in 2026 is assessed in YA 2027 [4]. That one-year shift confuses almost every American at first.

The rates

For residents, Singapore's top rates went up from YA 2024: 23% on income between SGD 500,000 and SGD 1 million, and 24% above that [5]. The full ladder looks like this [1]:

Chargeable income (SGD)	Rate on this slice	Tax on income up to the top of the band
First 20,000 (about USD 15,650)	0%	0
20,001 to 40,000	2% then 3.5%	SGD 550 (about USD 430)
40,001 to 80,000	7%	SGD 3,350 (about USD 2,620)
80,001 to 120,000	11.5%	SGD 7,950 (about USD 6,220)
120,001 to 160,000	15%	SGD 13,950 (about USD 10,920)
160,001 to 200,000	18%	SGD 21,150 (about USD 16,550)
200,001 to 320,000	19% to 20%	SGD 44,550 (about USD 34,870)
320,001 to 1,000,000	22% then 23%	SGD 199,150 (about USD 155,880)
Over 1,000,000 (about USD 782,700)	24%

A quick example: on SGD 180,000 (about USD 140,900) of chargeable income, a resident owes about SGD 17,550 (about USD 13,740), before any reliefs or rebates. That's under 10% overall.

Non-residents pay employment income at the higher of a straight 15% or the resident rates, and get no personal reliefs. Most other income, including director's fees, is taxed at 24% [1][5].

Singapore doesn't take tax out of each paycheck the way US payroll withholding does. You file, IRAS sends a bill, and many employees pay in monthly GIRO installments with no interest [4]. If you work for a Singapore employer as a foreigner, you also don't pay into CPF, the national retirement fund, unless you become a permanent resident.

Filing with IRAS

Here's how the Singapore side runs, start to finish:

Log in with Singpass once you have your pass. Many employers send salary data to IRAS directly, so much of the return fills itself in.
File by April 18 for the previous calendar year's income [4].
Pay within one month of the assessment notice, or set up GIRO installments. Objections go in within 30 days [4].
When you leave, your employer must tell IRAS at least a month before you go and hold back your final pay until tax clearance comes through. This is the process HR calls the IR21 [4]. Plan for it if you're timing a move back to the States around a bonus.

Your US return: same as always, with new tools

The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income, wherever they live. Living abroad buys you an automatic two-month extension to June 15, but interest still runs from April 15 on any tax you owe [10].

No treaty, no totalization

Singapore doesn't appear on the IRS list of countries with a US income tax treaty [6], and it isn't one of the 31 countries with a Social Security agreement listed by SSA [7]. In practice:

There's no treaty tie-breaker for residency and no treaty rate on dividends or pensions. Your relief comes only from US domestic rules: the FEIE and the foreign tax credit.
If you're self-employed, you generally still owe US self-employment tax, and there's no certificate of coverage to get out of it. See self-employed abroad.
If you work for a Singapore employer, you're paying into neither CPF (as a foreigner) nor US Social Security. Those are years with no US credits, which can matter for your benefit later.

FEIE vs foreign tax credit with low Singapore tax

The foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555) lets you exclude up to USD 130,000 for tax year 2025 and USD 132,900 for tax year 2026, if you pass the bona fide residence or physical presence test [8]. You may also claim a housing exclusion, and Singapore's high rents matter there.

The foreign tax credit (Form 1116) gives you a dollar-for-dollar credit for income tax paid to Singapore. You can't claim a credit for tax on income you've already excluded with the FEIE [9].

Situation	What often works	Why
Salary under the FEIE limit, no big US income	FEIE (plus housing exclusion)	Singapore's tax is too small to wipe out the US bill by credit alone
Salary above the FEIE limit	FEIE on the first slice, credit for Singapore tax on the rest	The credit covers part of the excess; some US tax may remain
Kids, and you want the refundable child tax credit	Sometimes the foreign tax credit instead	Claiming the FEIE limits some credits
Big bonus or stock vesting	Run both ways	Timing differences between the two systems

Here's the rub: at Singapore's rates, the Singapore tax on a given salary is usually well below the US tax on the same salary. With the credit alone, you'd often still owe the IRS the difference. That's why many Americans here use the FEIE, at least on their salary. Once you choose the FEIE, revoking it locks you out for five years without IRS approval, so don't flip-flop casually. A US expat tax preparer can check your situation.

Other US items to remember

FBAR and Form 8938 for your Singapore bank accounts. See banking in Singapore as an American.
Singapore funds and SRS. Local unit trusts are usually PFICs for US tax purposes. See CPF, SRS and retirement savings in Singapore.
State tax. If you leave California without cutting ties, the Franchise Tax Board may still treat you as a resident. Our guide to state taxes after you move abroad explains domicile.

Comparing notes on Singpass and the IRAS portal is a regular topic in our community group for Americans in Singapore.

Singapore taxes for Americans: low rates, no treaty, and a US return every year