Only companies that are on GIRO are allowed to pay their taxes in instalments. Companies that do not have an existing GIRO arrangement for Corporate Tax are encouraged to apply for GIRO at least 3 weeks before e-Filing their ECI.

If the GIRO arrangement is not approved before the payment due date, the company will not be eligible for instalment payment and will need to pay the full amount of estimated tax by the payment due date. You can check the status of your company’s GIRO application through the Corporate Tax Integrated Phone Service (PDF, 371KB).

As announced in Budget 2020 on 18 Feb 2020, companies that are on GIRO and filed their ECI on time (i.e. within three months from the end of their financial year) (i.e. qualifying companies) will automatically qualify for an additional two months of interest-free instalment, if the ECI is filed as follows:

1. during the period from 19 Feb 2020 to 31 Dec 2020 (both dates inclusive); or
2. before 19 Feb 2020 and the company has an ongoing instalment payment to be made in Mar 2020.

Qualifying companies who have filed their ECI before 19 Feb 2020 and have ongoing instalment payments to be made in Mar 2020 would have received a letter from IRAS on the automatic two months extension of the instalment plan. Companies can also view their revised instalment plan at myTax Portal.

The table below sets out the number of instalments a qualifying company would receive if it qualifies for the automatic two months extension of the instalment plan:

Notes
1. The instalment plan is subject to a minimum monthly GIRO deduction amount of $50.
2. The first few instalments may be combined and deducted on the first GIRO deduction date, depending on the date of filing of ECI. Please see example 2 below.
3. IRAS may vary the instalment plan for companies that file revised ECIs.