ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY FOR ADULTS · PERSONAL TAX · IRAS · RELIEFS · REBATES · TAX BILLS

The Words That Tell You What IRAS Has Assessed, What You Must Check and What You May Need to Do Next

Personal tax can feel more complicated than it is because one document carries several different kinds of language at once. Some words describe income. Some describe how tax is calculated. Some describe whether you must file. Others tell you that a deadline, correction, payment or objection process has started.

This article teaches one hundred terms adults should recognise when reading Singapore personal income-tax information. It is educational, not personalised tax advice. Tax rules change by Year of Assessment, residency status and individual circumstances, so current decisions should be checked against IRAS and CPF Board guidance.

Diagnosis Before the Glossary

When a tax notice feels confusing, locate the type of problem first.

Identity problem: Which taxpayer, tax year or residency status does this notice concern?
Income problem: Which amounts were included, excluded or pre-filled?
Calculation problem: Which relief, deduction, rebate or rate changed the final bill?
Action problem: Must you file, verify, amend, pay, object or simply wait?
Timing problem: Which date controls the next step?

Tax vocabulary becomes useful when it tells you which question to ask next.

1–10 · The Taxpayer and the Tax Year

Taxpayer — a person or entity subject to a tax obligation or assessment.
Tax resident — a person treated as resident for Singapore income-tax purposes under the applicable rules; citizenship alone does not answer every residency question.
Non-resident — a person not treated as tax resident for the relevant Year of Assessment.
Year of Assessment (YA) — the year in which income from the relevant preceding period is assessed for tax.
Basis period — the period whose income is used for a particular assessment.
Income — money or benefits received that may be relevant to tax under applicable law.
Assessable income — income after specified allowable deductions or adjustments, before personal reliefs are applied.
Chargeable income — the amount on which individual income tax is calculated after allowable personal reliefs.
Tax payable — the final amount of tax due after the applicable calculation.
Progressive tax rate — a rate structure in which higher portions of chargeable income are taxed at higher rates.

11–20 · Filing and the Digital Tax Process

Income Tax Return — the information submitted to IRAS for the relevant tax year when filing is required.
e-Filing — submitting a tax return electronically through IRAS systems.
myTax Portal — IRAS’s online portal for tax notices, filing, payments and other services.
No-Filing Service (NFS) — an IRAS arrangement under which eligible taxpayers generally do not need to file a return but must still check the information made available to them.
Direct Notice of Assessment (D-NOA) — an IRAS process under which eligible taxpayers receive a tax bill directly based on information available to IRAS.
Pre-filled information — income or relief information already inserted into the tax return or assessment from recognised sources.
Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) — a scheme under which participating employers submit employment income information directly to IRAS.
Filing requirement — whether IRAS requires a taxpayer to submit a return for that YA.
Declaration — a formal confirmation that submitted information is true and complete to the best of the taxpayer’s knowledge.
Amendment — a correction to information previously filed or assessed through the appropriate IRAS process.

21–30 · Reading the Tax Bill

Notice of Assessment (NOA) — the tax bill showing IRAS’s assessment and the amount payable or otherwise due.
Assessment — IRAS’s determination of taxable amounts and tax liability for the relevant YA.
Income assessed — the income IRAS has taken into account in the assessment.
Reliefs allowed — qualifying personal reliefs reflected in the assessment.
Tax computation — the calculation showing how income, reliefs, rates, credits or rebates produce the final tax figure.
Due date — the deadline by which a required payment or action must be completed.
Outstanding tax — tax that remains unpaid.
Credit balance — an amount standing in the taxpayer’s favour after payments or adjustments.
Refund — money returned when the taxpayer has paid more than the amount ultimately due or otherwise qualifies for repayment.
Provisional instalment plan — the continuing GIRO instalment arrangement IRAS may use while a new assessment is being finalised.

31–40 · Reliefs, Rebates and Deductions

Tax relief — an allowable amount that reduces chargeable income when qualifying conditions are met.
Tax rebate — an amount that reduces tax payable after tax has been calculated, when a rebate applies.
Deduction — an allowable amount subtracted from income before tax is calculated under the relevant rules.
Relief cap — the maximum total personal relief that can be allowed under the applicable cap.
Eligibility — whether a taxpayer satisfies the conditions for a relief, deduction, rebate or scheme.
Qualifying condition — a specific rule that must be met before a tax benefit applies.
Automatic relief — a relief granted from information already available to IRAS without a new claim from the taxpayer, where applicable.
Claim — a taxpayer’s request for a relief or deduction that is not automatically granted.
Tax credit — an amount recognised against tax liability under a relevant rule or arrangement.
Exemption — treatment under which specified income or circumstances are not taxed when the legal conditions are met.

41–50 · CPF and Tax Vocabulary

Employee CPF contribution — the CPF amount deducted from an employee’s wages under prevailing contribution rules.
Employer CPF contribution — the CPF amount contributed by the employer under prevailing rules.
CPF relief — tax relief that may be available for qualifying CPF contributions under IRAS rules.
CPF annual limit — the annual ceiling on total CPF contributions that can be credited under prevailing CPF rules.
Ordinary wages — regular wages subject to the CPF definition for contribution purposes.
Additional wages — wages such as certain bonuses or commissions treated under CPF rules as additional rather than ordinary wages.
MediSave contribution — money contributed to the CPF MediSave Account, including compulsory contributions for some self-employed persons.
Voluntary CPF contribution — a contribution made beyond compulsory contributions, subject to CPF and tax rules.
Cash top-up — a cash contribution to eligible CPF retirement accounts under the applicable scheme.
CPF Cash Top-up Relief — tax relief that may apply to qualifying cash top-ups, subject to prevailing conditions and limits.

51–60 · Employment Income

Salary — regular pay received for employment.
Bonus — additional employment pay beyond regular salary.
Commission — income linked to sales, transactions or performance under the employment arrangement.
Allowance — an amount paid for a stated purpose, whose tax treatment depends on its nature and rules.
Reimbursement — repayment of an expense incurred on behalf of the employer; tax treatment depends on the underlying arrangement.
Benefit-in-kind — a non-cash benefit provided through employment that may be taxable under applicable rules.
Director’s fee — remuneration paid for acting as a company director, taxed according to the relevant rules.
Share option — a right linked to acquiring shares under an employment or incentive arrangement; tax treatment can depend on timing and scheme structure.
Employment income — taxable income arising from employment, including relevant cash and non-cash remuneration.
Income information — the employment-income details submitted to or held by IRAS for assessment.

61–70 · Self-Employment and Business Records

Self-employed person — a person carrying on a trade, business, profession or vocation on their own account.
Trade income — income derived from carrying on a trade, business, profession or vocation.
Revenue — gross receipts earned before business expenses are deducted.
Business expense — a cost incurred in earning business income, whose deductibility depends on tax rules.
Allowable expense — an expense accepted for deduction under the relevant tax conditions.
Capital expense — spending on acquiring or improving a long-term asset, usually treated differently from ordinary operating expenses.
Net trade income — trade income after allowable business expenses and adjustments.
Record keeping — maintaining supporting records required to explain income and expenses.
Invoice — a document requesting payment and recording the supply of goods or services.
Receipt — evidence that a payment was made or received.

71–80 · Property, Investment and Other Income Words

Rental income — income received from letting property.
Rental expense — a cost connected with earning rental income, subject to the rules on what is deductible.
Interest expense — interest paid on borrowing; whether it is deductible depends on the purpose and tax rules.
Investment income — income arising from investments, whose tax treatment depends on the type and source.
Dividend — a distribution from a company to shareholders; Singapore tax treatment depends on the source and applicable system.
Interest income — income received for lending or depositing money, taxed according to the relevant rules.
Capital gain — profit from disposing of a capital asset; Singapore generally does not impose a separate capital-gains tax, but facts can affect whether a gain is capital or income.
Foreign-sourced income — income arising outside Singapore, whose tax treatment depends on applicable rules and circumstances.
Source of income — the jurisdiction or activity from which income is treated as arising for tax purposes.
Tax treatment — the way a particular item is classified and dealt with under tax law.

81–90 · Corrections, Objections and Evidence

Amend Tax Bill — the IRAS digital service used in relevant cases to correct inaccurate information in a tax bill.
Objection — a formal challenge to an assessment through the prescribed tax process.
Grounds of objection — the reasons explaining why the assessment is said to be incorrect.
Supporting document — evidence used to substantiate income, expense, relief or another tax position.
Query — a request from IRAS for clarification or information.
Audit — a review of records and tax treatment to check compliance.
Verification — checking whether tax information is accurate and supported.
Appeal — a further formal challenge available after certain tax decisions, according to the applicable process.
Statutory deadline — a time limit imposed by law for an action such as objecting or filing.
Compliance — meeting the legal duties to report, file, pay and retain records as required.

91–100 · Paying and Managing the Assessment

GIRO — an arrangement for paying tax from a bank account, including instalment plans where available.
Instalment — one payment in a scheduled series.
Lump-sum payment — payment of the full amount in one transaction.
Late-payment penalty — an additional charge imposed when tax is not paid on time under the applicable rules.
Enforcement — action taken to recover unpaid tax or secure compliance.
Tax clearance — a process used in defined circumstances to settle tax obligations before a person leaves employment or Singapore.
IR21 — the employer form used for tax clearance in relevant cases involving non-Singapore-citizen employees who cease employment or leave Singapore.
Payment reference — information used to identify which taxpayer or liability a payment belongs to.
Statement of account — a record showing charges, payments, credits and outstanding balances for the tax account.
Tax position — the overall result of a taxpayer’s income, deductions, reliefs, credits, assessments and payments for a given period.

Five Distinctions That Prevent Common Tax Misreadings

Assessable income vs chargeable income

Assessable income is not yet the final amount on which personal income tax is calculated. Personal reliefs can reduce assessable income to chargeable income.

Relief vs rebate

A relief generally reduces chargeable income. A rebate reduces tax payable after tax has been calculated.

No-Filing Service vs no responsibility

NFS can remove the need to submit a return, but taxpayers should still verify their information and act if something is inaccurate.

D-NOA vs estimated bill

A Direct Notice of Assessment is an actual tax bill generated from information available to IRAS; the taxpayer still has a duty to correct inaccuracies.

CPF contribution vs CPF tax relief

A CPF contribution and the amount of tax relief eventually allowed are not always identical. Eligibility, contribution type and tax caps matter.

Diagnosis Before Prescription

“IRAS already has my information, so I never need to check it.”

Diagnosis: automation has been mistaken for infallibility.
Repair: compare the tax bill with employment, CPF and other relevant records, and use the proper amendment process if something is inaccurate.

“A tax relief of $5,000 means my tax falls by $5,000.”

Diagnosis: relief has been confused with rebate.
Repair: trace the calculation from assessable income to chargeable income and then through the progressive tax rates.

“I am on GIRO, so I can ignore the tax bill.”

Diagnosis: payment method has replaced assessment review.
Repair: check the NOA even when payments are automated.

Singapore Context: What Changed in the 2026 Tax Season

IRAS announced in March 2026 that the Direct Notice of Assessment process was being expanded, with about one million taxpayers expected to receive their tax bill directly from mid-March. More than two million taxpayers were expected to benefit from the No-Filing Service. The practical vocabulary lesson is that no filing required does not mean no checking required.

IRAS also states that taxpayers should use the appropriate digital service to amend inaccurate information in their tax bill, generally within the stated time limit. Current deadlines and procedures should always be checked for the relevant YA.

Connections eduKateAI Can Learn

Tax term ↔ calculation stage: relief, rebate, deduction and credit act at different points in the tax calculation.

Assessment ↔ evidence: an NOA is based on information available to IRAS, which can be compared with employer, CPF and taxpayer records.

Automation ↔ verification: NFS, D-NOA and pre-filled information reduce administrative work but do not remove the need to identify inaccuracies.

Deadline ↔ remedy: filing, amendment, objection and payment rights are often time-bounded.

Local label ↔ general concept: myTax Portal, CPF relief and D-NOA are Singapore-specific labels for broader ideas such as tax administration, retirement contributions and automated assessment.

Research & Reference Basis

Continue the Essential Vocabulary for Adults Series

Return to Essential Vocabulary for Adults: Modern Life or the Vocabulary Learning Hub.

Essential Vocabulary for Adults | Personal Tax, IRAS, Reliefs, Rebates & Tax Bills