IRAS asks for little at filing and a great deal on review. The return carries the deductions in the tax computation; larger claims add the R&D claim form, which gives IRAS a project-level description; and everything else, from the technical risk analysis to the timesheets, must exist and be produced when IRAS asks. Keep documents that show each project's objective, its novelty or technical risk, the work done and the qualifying expenditure. IRAS can ask for them when it reviews a claim. This page lists the requirements in the order IRAS applies them.
What it is
| Requirement | When | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Tax computation and schedules | With the return | The R&D deductions claimed, separating the base, additional and EIS enhanced amounts |
| R&D claim form | With the return, for larger R&D claims; check IRAS guidance for the current threshold | IRAS expects claimants to be able to show, for each project: the objective, the technical problem, why existing knowledge could not solve it, the systematic work done, the results, who did it and where, and the expenditure by category |
| Project documentation | On request | Contemporaneous records supporting the claim form answers and the expenditure |
| Cash payout application | After filing, before the filing due date | The converted expenditure and the employee condition, through myTax Portal |
| Records retention | 5 years from the Year of Assessment | All of the above |
Who it applies to
Every claimant. IRAS's threshold decides who must file the form; smaller claimants should keep the same information on file, because the questions on the form are the questions IRAS asks in a review. Companies claiming the cash payout have the additional employee condition to evidence from CPF records. Companies outsourcing R&D need the provider's contract, with 60% of the fee treated as staff costs and consumables; companies with overseas work need location records.
IRAS applies a consistent standard to the novelty or technical risk requirement: it asks what was known in the field at the start, why that knowledge did not give the answer, and what systematic work was done to find it. It may put the question to technical experts and expects the company's technical staff to be able to answer it.
How it works
- Prepare a project file for each project during the year: the charter with the objective and the technical risk, the plans, the test records, the results and the closing note.
- Prepare the expenditure schedule: staff costs with time apportionment and CPF, consumables, outsourced R&D with the provider's fee breakdown, other R&D expenditure, overseas items, grants netted, capital items separated.
- Complete the R&D claim form where the claim exceeds the threshold, answering each question in the technical staff's words, concisely and with the state of knowledge stated.
- Prepare the tax computation with the deductions by tier and the EIS enhanced amounts shown.
- File by 30 November, and apply for the cash payout afterwards if elected.
- Respond to queries from the project files; IRAS usually asks for the technical risk analysis first and the cost support second.
IRAS also expects consistency across filings. The staff costs claimed should reconcile to CPF submissions, the consumables to the accounts, and the project list on the claim form to the projects in any grant applications to government agencies.
Worked example
Illustrative example. Bukit Timah Materials Pte Ltd, a hypothetical company, claims S$520,000 of R&D expenditure for YA 2026, above the claim form threshold, across two projects. For project one, a coating that must survive 1,000 hours of salt spray without the chromium compounds current coatings use, the claim form records the state of the art (published chromium-free coatings fail at 400 hours), the hypotheses tested (three binder systems, two pigment loadings), the results (one system reached 1,100 hours) and the Singapore laboratory where the work was done. Staff costs of S$340,000 are supported by monthly time allocations and CPF records; consumables of S$60,000 by purchase records; a S$40,000 fee to a Singapore research institute is treated at 60% as staff costs and consumables; S$80,000 of overheads sits at 100%. IRAS queries the technical risk of project two, a formulation adjustment, and Bukit Timah withdraws it as a routine modification. Project one is allowed as filed.
Common questions
Is the claim form needed for small claims? Not below the threshold, but the same information should exist.
Can we attach a technical report? The claim form answers are what IRAS reads at filing; a report is useful in a review.
Will IRAS tell us whether a project qualifies before we claim? Not routinely. An advance ruling is available for a fee.
How detailed should the claim form answers be? Specific and short: the technical target, what was known, what was tried and what happened, in a few hundred words per project. Marketing language and product descriptions draw queries.
Who should sign the claim form? It is filed with the return under the company's declaration; the technical content should come from the people who did the work.
Related pages
Official sources
Educational content only, not tax advice. See the disclaimer.