Statute Details
- Title: Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements) (Country-By-Country Reporting) Regulations 2018
- Act Code: ITA1947-S75-2018
- Legislation Type: Subsidiary legislation (SL)
- Authorising Act: Income Tax Act (Cap. 134), powers conferred by section 105P
- Citation: SL 75/2018
- Commencement: 5 February 2018
- Status: Current version as at 27 March 2026
- Key Provisions: Regulations 1–5 (definitions; application; obligation of ultimate parent entity; designation of constituent entity)
- Notable Amendments (from timeline): S 869/2021; S 669/2022; S 147/2023
What Is This Legislation About?
The Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements) (Country-By-Country Reporting) Regulations 2018 (“CBCR Regulations”) implement Singapore’s country-by-country reporting (CBCR) obligations for multinational enterprise (MNE) groups. In plain terms, the Regulations require certain large multinational groups to provide the Comptroller of Income Tax (or an authorised person) with a structured report showing, for each tax jurisdiction in which the group operates, key indicators of where profits are made and where economic activity occurs.
CBCR is a transparency tool used by tax administrations to assess transfer pricing risks and to identify where further tax audit activity may be warranted. It is not, by itself, a tax assessment mechanism. Rather, it supplies information that supports compliance and enforcement under Singapore’s Income Tax Act framework for international tax compliance agreements.
The Regulations sit alongside the Income Tax Act provisions on CBCR (notably sections 105I, 105L, 105M and related provisions). They define who must file, when they must file, what records must be kept, and—critically—when the ultimate parent entity (UPE) may be relieved and another constituent entity must file instead.
What Are the Key Provisions?
Regulation 1 (Citation and commencement) confirms the legal identity of the instrument and that it came into operation on 5 February 2018. For practitioners, this matters when determining which accounting periods are within scope and when compliance systems had to be operational.
Regulation 2 (Definitions) is central because CBCR obligations depend on classification and thresholds. The Regulations define terms such as “authorised person”, “constituent entity”, “country-by-country report”, “entity”, and the financial reporting standards referenced in determining whether a group is a “Type A group” or “Type B group”.
Two definitional concepts are particularly important:
- Type A group vs Type B group: A “Type A group” generally involves a group that prepares (or would have been required to prepare) consolidated financial statements under specified standards (FRS 110, SFRS(I) 10, or equivalent). A “Type B group” is a single entity with one or more permanent establishments (PEs), where the group is resident in one country but subject to income tax in another country through a PE.
- Threshold and residency tests: For an accounting period, a Type A group is an MNE group if it has consolidated group revenue of not less than $1,125 million (or equivalent) in the immediately preceding accounting period and has 2 or more entities resident for tax purposes in different countries. A Type B group is an MNE group if it has revenue of at least $1,125 million and is resident for tax purposes in one country while also being subject to income tax with respect to business carried out through a PE in another country.
These thresholds are the gatekeeping mechanism: only MNE groups meeting the revenue and cross-border criteria fall within the Regulations.
Regulation 3 (Application) provides the temporal scope. The Regulations apply to a Type A group or Type B group for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2017. This is significant for compliance planning because multinational groups may have accounting periods that straddle calendar years; practitioners should map the group’s accounting period start date to the Regulations’ effective date.
Regulation 4 (Obligation of ultimate parent entity to submit CBCR) is the core compliance obligation. Subject to Regulation 5 (which provides for designation/relief scenarios), where:
- the group is an MNE group for an accounting period; and
- its ultimate parent entity is resident in Singapore,
the UPE must submit a country-by-country report for that accounting period for all constituent entities of the MNE group.
Regulation 4 also introduces a notice requirement (paragraphs (1A)–(1D)) for certain reporting periods. The UPE must submit a notice in the form and manner determined by the Comptroller, and it must be submitted no later than 3 months after the end of the accounting period (or such later time as permitted). The notice requirement applies to CBCR for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022. Importantly, paragraph (1D) clarifies that the notice requirement does not apply where the Comptroller has given a written notice under Regulation 5(2)(a) that the UPE need not submit a CBCR for that accounting period.
Timing for the actual CBCR submission is also specified: the UPE must submit the CBCR no later than 12 months after the end of the accounting period, again subject to any later time the Comptroller may permit.
Finally, Regulation 4 imposes a record-keeping obligation: the UPE must keep and retain in safe custody all records used to prepare the CBCR for 5 years after the end of the accounting period. The Regulations link non-compliance to offences under the Income Tax Act: failure or neglect to comply with the submission requirements (including the notice requirement) is an offence under section 105M(1) (without reasonable excuse), while failure to comply with the record-keeping requirement is an offence under section 105M(1B).
Regulation 5 (Designation of constituent entity to submit CBCR in place of UPE) addresses a practical issue in international CBCR regimes: sometimes the UPE may be unable (or should not) file in its home jurisdiction due to confidentiality or national interest concerns, or because another entity is better positioned to file. Regulation 5 provides a mechanism for the Comptroller to relieve the UPE and designate another constituent entity to submit the CBCR.
Under Regulation 5(1), the Comptroller’s power is triggered where:
- the group is a Type A group for an accounting period; and
- during that accounting period, the Government is the sole shareholder of the UPE; and
- the Minister informed the Comptroller that a CBCR by the UPE would contain information whose disclosure would be contrary to Singapore’s vital interests.
After taking into account the information in Regulation 5(1)(b)(ii), the Comptroller may (Regulation 5(2)):
- give written notice to the UPE that it need not submit the CBCR; and
- give written notice to one or more other constituent entities to submit the CBCR for that accounting period in place of the UPE.
Although the extract provided truncates the remainder of Regulation 5, the structure indicates a formal administrative process: the Comptroller’s written notices shift the filing responsibility from the UPE to designated constituent entities for the relevant accounting period. For counsel, this is a key risk-management point: where a group is within the scope of CBCR and the UPE is Singapore-resident, the default rule is UPE filing, but Regulation 5 creates an exception pathway that must be managed through formal notices and internal governance.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are concise and structured around five regulations:
- Regulation 1 sets out citation and commencement.
- Regulation 2 provides definitions, including the classification of Type A and Type B groups and the revenue/residency thresholds.
- Regulation 3 states the application to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2017.
- Regulation 4 imposes the CBCR submission obligation on the Singapore-resident ultimate parent entity, including a notice obligation (from 2022 accounting periods), submission deadlines, and record-keeping requirements.
- Regulation 5 provides for designation of a constituent entity to file in place of the UPE in specified circumstances involving vital interests and government shareholding.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The CBCR Regulations apply to Type A and Type B MNE groups for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2017, provided the group meets the defined revenue and cross-border criteria (including the $1,125 million threshold and the relevant residency/PE conditions).
In practical terms, the Regulations primarily affect the ultimate parent entity resident in Singapore. Where the UPE is Singapore-resident and the group is an MNE group for the accounting period, the UPE must file the CBCR for all constituent entities. However, where Regulation 5 conditions are met and the Comptroller issues written notices, the obligation may shift to one or more designated constituent entities.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
For practitioners, the CBCR Regulations are important because they translate international CBCR standards into Singapore’s domestic compliance obligations with clear deadlines and enforcement hooks. The Regulations create a compliance regime that is operationally demanding: CBCR data must be gathered, mapped to jurisdictions, and supported by records retained for five years.
From an enforcement perspective, the Regulations tie non-compliance to offences under the Income Tax Act. This means that failure to submit on time, failure to submit the required notice (where applicable), or failure to keep records can expose the responsible entity to criminal or quasi-criminal consequences (subject to the “without reasonable excuse” qualifier). Counsel should therefore treat CBCR as a governance and controls issue, not merely a reporting exercise.
Finally, Regulation 5’s designation mechanism is a reminder that CBCR is not purely mechanical. Confidentiality and national interest considerations can alter who files. Where a group has government shareholding at the UPE level, or where there are sensitivities around disclosure, legal teams should anticipate the need for formal engagement with the Comptroller and the Minister, and ensure that internal reporting lines reflect the possibility of a shift in filing responsibility.
Related Legislation
- Income Tax Act (Cap. 134) — including sections 105I (definition of CBCR), 105L (authorised persons), 105M (offences for non-compliance), and 105P (power to make these Regulations)
- Accounting Standards Act 2007 — for the financial reporting standards referenced in the definitions (FRS 110 and SFRS(I) 10)
- Timeline / Legislation amendments — including amendments by S 869/2021, S 669/2022, and S 147/2023
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements) (Country-By-Country Reporting) Regulations 2018 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.