On 19/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 01/01/2008.
13H.
—(1) The Minister may by regulations prescribe that any income of an approved venture company derived by it from making approved investments —
(a)
shall be exempt from tax; or
(b)
notwithstanding section 43, shall be taxed at such concessionary rate, not being more than 10%, as the Minister, or such person as he may appoint, may specify for each year of assessment.
[31/98]
(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may provide for the determination of the amount of the income of an approved venture company to be exempted or taxed at a concessionary rate and for the deduction of losses otherwise than in accordance with section 37.
[31/98]
(2A) The exemption from tax or tax at a concessionary rate of the income of an approved venture company under regulations made under subsection (1) —
(a)
shall be for such period, not exceeding 10 years, as the Minister, or such person as he may appoint, may specify; and
(b)
in any particular case after the period referred to in paragraph (a), shall be for such further period or periods, not exceeding 5 years at any one time for each period, as the Minister, or such person as he may appoint, may specify.
[31/98]
(2B) The total period under subsection (2A)(a) and the further period or periods under subsection (2A) (b) shall not in the aggregate exceed 15 years.
[31/98]
(3) The Comptroller shall determine the manner and extent to which allowances under section 19, 19A, 20, 21 or 22 and any expenses, losses and donations allowable under this Act which are attributable to the income referred to in subsection (1) are to be deducted.
(4) In determining the income of an approved venture company which is exempt from tax or taxed at a concessionary rate under regulations made under subsection (1) for any year of assessment, there shall be deducted therefrom —
(a)
expenses and donations allowable under this Act for that year of assessment which are attributable to that income;
(b)
any loss for that year of assessment arising from the disposal of any approved investments in Singapore or elsewhere;
(c)
any allowances for that year of assessment under section 19, 19A, 20, 21 or 22 attributable to that income notwithstanding that no claim for those allowances has been made; and
(d)
any balance of the expenses, losses and allowances referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) which have not been deducted in determining that income for any previous year of assessment.
[31/98]
(5) Any expenses, donations, allowances or losses referred to in subsection (4) shall only be deducted against the income of an approved venture company exempt from tax under regulations made under subsection (1) and shall not be available as a deduction against any other income of the company, except that any balance of the expenses, donations, allowances or losses remaining unabsorbed at the end of the tax exempt period of the company shall be available as a deduction against any other income of the company for the year of assessment which relates to the basis period in which the tax exemption ceases and for any subsequent year of assessment in accordance with section 23 or 37, as the case may be.
(5A) Where the income of an approved venture company is taxed at a concessionary rate under regulations made under subsection (1) —
(a)
any expenses, donations, allowances or losses referred to in subsection (4) shall only be deducted against such income, and any balance of the expenses, donations, allowances or losses for any year of assessment shall, subject to sections 23, 37 and 37B, be available as a deduction against any other income of the company for that year of assessment and for any subsequent year of assessment; and
(b)
notwithstanding subsection (5), where the income of the company was exempted from tax immediately before being taxed at a concessionary rate, the balance referred to in subsection (5) shall firstly be deducted against the income taxed at a concessionary rate and thereafter shall be available for deduction against any other income of the company for the year of assessment which relates to the basis period in which the tax exemption ceases, and subsequent years of assessment, in accordance with section 23 or 37, as the case may be.
[31/98]
(6) The Comptroller shall for each year of assessment for which the income of an approved venture company is exempt from tax under regulations made under subsection (1) issue to the approved venture company a statement showing the amount of income exempt from tax under regulations made under subsection (1) and Parts XVII and XVIII (relating to objections and appeals) and any rules made under this Act shall apply, with the necessary modifications, as if such statement were a notice of assessment.
[Act 34/2008, wef Y/A 2009 & Sub Ys/A:2008-ACT-34]
[31/98]
(7) Subject to subsection (8), where any statement issued to an approved venture company under subsection (6) has become final and conclusive, the amount of income shown therein shall not form part of the statutory income of the company for the year of assessment to which the statement relates and shall be exempt from tax.
(8) The Comptroller may, before any such statement has become final and conclusive, treat a specified amount of the income of an approved venture company as exempt from tax pending such statement becoming final and conclusive.
(9) As soon as any amount of the income of an approved venture company has been exempt from tax or subject to tax at a concessionary rate under regulations made under subsection (1), the amount of the income exempted or the net amount of the income after deduction of the tax shall be credited to a special account (referred to in this section as the account) to be kept by the company for the purpose of this section.
[31/98]
(10) Where the account of an approved venture company is in credit at the date on which any dividends are paid by the company out of the amount credited to that account, an amount equal to those dividends or to that credit, whichever is the less, shall be debited to the account.
(11) So much of the amount of any dividends debited to the account under subsection (10) as is received by a shareholder of an approved venture company shall, if the Comptroller is satisfied with the entries in the account, be exempt from tax in the hands of the shareholder.
(11A) Any dividends debited to the account shall be treated as having been distributed to the shareholders of the company or any particular class of the shareholders in accordance with the proportion of their shareholdings in the company.
[37/2002]
(12) Section 44 shall not apply to any dividends or part thereof which are exempt from tax under this section.
(13) Where an amount of dividends exempt from tax under this section has been received from a company by a shareholder, if that shareholder is a company, any dividends paid by that company to its shareholders, to the extent that the Comptroller is satisfied that those dividends are paid out of that amount, shall be exempt from tax in the hands of those shareholders; and section 44 shall not apply to any such dividend or part thereof.
[37/2002]
(14) Notwithstanding subsections (11) and (13), no dividend paid on any share of a preferential nature shall be exempt from tax under this section in the hands of the shareholder.
[21/2003]
(15) An approved venture company shall deliver to the Comptroller a copy of the account made up to any date specified by him whenever called upon to do so by notice in writing.
(16) Notwithstanding anything in this section, where it appears to the Comptroller that —
(a)
any income of an approved venture company which has been exempted from tax or subject to tax at a concessionary rate under regulations made under subsection (1); or
(b)
any dividend which has been exempted from tax in the hands of any shareholder,
ought not to have been so exempted or taxed at a concessionary rate for any year of assessment, the Comptroller may, at any time within 6 years (if that year of assessment is 2007 or a preceding year of assessment) or 4 years (if that year of assessment is 2008 or a subsequent year of assessment) after the expiration of that year of assessment —
(i)
make such assessment or additional assessment upon the company or any such shareholder as may appear to be necessary in order to make good any loss of tax; or
(ii)
direct the company to debit its account with such amount as the circumstances may require.
[11/94; 31/98; 37/2002; 53/2007]
(17) Parts XVII and XVIII (relating to objections and appeals) and any rules made under this Act shall apply, with the necessary modifications, as if an assessment or a direction under subsection (16) were a notice of assessment.
(18) In this section —
“approved” means approved by the Minister or such person as he may appoint;
“investments” means —
(a)
debentures, stocks, shares, bonds, notes or warrants issued by a government or company;
(b)
any right or option in respect of any such debentures, stocks, shares, bonds, notes or warrants; or
(c)
units in any unit trust within the meaning of section 10B;
“tax exempt period” means the period during which any income of an approved venture company is exempt from tax under regulations made under subsection (1);
“venture company” means any company whose business consists wholly or mainly in the making of approved investments and the principal part of whose income is derived therefrom.
[28/96; 31/98]