Your IRAS Notice of Assessment is your income tax bill. It shows your income, deductions, chargeable income and the tax you owe, and you have one month from its date to pay, unless you pay by GIRO.
GIRO lets you spread the bill over up to 12 interest-free monthly instalments. Here is how to check each line of the notice of assessment, and what happens if you pay late.
What the Notice of Assessment From IRAS Shows
IRAS issues four kinds of tax bill:
| Type | When you get it |
|---|---|
| Original | Your first bill for the year, from your return or your employer’s data |
| Amended | Your tax goes down, for example after a relief is added |
| Additional | Your tax goes up, for example after income is added or a relief withdrawn |
| Estimated | You did not file on time and IRAS estimated your tax |
The Amended and Additional bills show a “Previous assessment” line so you can see the change. An Estimated bill does not replace filing: you still have to file your return.
The short version: Check the income and every relief on the bill against your own records within 30 days. Pay within one month, or set up GIRO before the due date to pay in instalments.
Line by Line: Income, Deductions, Chargeable Income
IRAS’s tax bill uses five main terms:
- Year of Assessment (YA). The tax year. A YA 2027 bill covers income earned in 2026.
- Income. Your total income after allowable expenses. Employment income is net of employment expenses, rental income net of rental expenses, and trade income net of business expenses.
- Deductions. Donations and personal reliefs.
- Chargeable income. Income minus deductions. This is what the tax rates apply to.
- Tax payable or repayable. What you owe, with the due date, or what IRAS will refund.
In IRAS’s own example, a bill showing tax payable of S$25,010.80 by 20 May 2026 means that amount must reach IRAS by that date, unless you pay by GIRO.
What to Check Before You Pay
Spend ten minutes on these:
- Employment income matches your Form IR8A or payslips, including bonuses.
- Other income such as rent is there if you declared it.
- Reliefs are the ones you are still entitled to. Reliefs carry over from last year automatically, so a child who started earning more than $8,000, or a parent who moved out, may mean a relief should come off.
- Donations to approved charities appear, at 2.5 times what you gave.
- CPF top-up and SRS relief match what you put in during the year.
If something is wrong, use “Amend Tax Bill” on myTax Portal within 30 days of the bill’s date. Our full list of personal tax reliefs sets out the conditions for each relief.
Paying by GIRO: Up to 12 Interest-Free Instalments
IRAS encourages digital payment such as GIRO and PayNow over cheques. For individual income tax, GIRO lets you choose:
- up to 12 interest-free monthly instalments, or
- a single yearly deduction.
You can apply for eGIRO on myTax Portal with accounts at a range of participating banks, listed on IRAS’s GIRO page. Timing matters. The 5% late payment penalty applies unless you are on an approved instalment plan, so the plan needs to be approved before the payment due date. IRAS’s stated processing times are:
- within minutes through eGIRO on myTax Portal
- within 3 working days through a bank’s internet banking or AXS
- up to 21 working days for a paper form
Illustration only. A tax bill of $3,600 on a 12-month GIRO plan works out to about $300 a month, with no interest.
Other ways to pay include PayNow, internet banking and AXS. IRAS does not accept credit cards directly; AXS e-Stations take cards up to $20,000 a payment.
Late Payment Penalties
If you are not on an approved plan and do not pay in full by the due date, IRAS says:
- a 5% late payment penalty is added to the unpaid tax
- if the tax is still unpaid 60 days after that, a further 1% a month may be added, up to 12% of the unpaid tax
- IRAS may also appoint your bank, employer or tenant to pay it the money, issue a travel restriction order, or take legal action
On a $3,000 bill, the 5% penalty is $150. You can appeal for a waiver on myTax Portal only if you paid the overdue tax in full by the due date on the penalty notice, and no waiver has been granted in the past two calendar years.
If You Cannot Pay on Time
Contact IRAS before the due date. It may agree a longer GIRO instalment plan for people facing high medical bills, job loss or a big fall in income, and may ask for documents. Instalment plans are only available through GIRO.
What To Do Next
- Read your bill when it arrives and check each relief against your situation.
- Set up GIRO well before the due date if you want instalments.
- Estimate next year’s bill with the income tax calculator and set money aside monthly.
- Start with our guide to how income tax works if any term is unfamiliar, and see who must file and when. For disputes or hardship, contact IRAS directly.
