According to Berlin-based non-government watchdog Transparency International (TI), Singapore has moved moved up to third spot for least-corrupt nation in the world, behind New Zealand and Denmark. Also sharing the 3rd spot is Sweden, with Switzerland completing the top five. This should be good news for Singapore, after the efforts made to be taken off [...]

” The mention of tax havens conjures up images of secret bank accounts hidden in the Alps and “shell companies” in sunny exotic islands. Most people would readily point to Switzerland, well-known for its banking secrecy or the Cayman Islands, where President Obama recently described an “outrageous” situation where over 12,000 businesses claim a particular [...]

The Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) Bill 2009 was passed by Parliament on 19 October 2009. The latest amendment to the Income Tax Act will allow Singapore to implement the internationally-agreed Standard for the Exchange of Information for tax purposes upon request, which was endorsed by Singapore in March 2009. According to Finance Minister [...]

On 29 September 2009, Singapore and Mexico signed a protocol amending their standing agreement for the avoidance of double taxation (“DTA”), incorporating the new internationally agreed Standard for the Exchange of Information upon request. This is the 10th agreement Singapore has signed that incorporates the Standard. Since endorsing the new internationally agreed Standard for the [...]