Singapore tax residency: the 183-day rule
As a foreigner, you’re tax resident in Singapore for a Year of Assessment if you stayed or worked there for 183 days or more in the calendar year before it. Two concessions also count a job that runs across two calendar years, and three years in a row.
Singapore 183-day calculator
A foreigner who stays or works in Singapore for 183 days or more in a calendar year is tax resident for the next Year of Assessment. The days you arrive and leave count.
Singapore tax residency: 183 days in a calendar year
IRAS treats you as a tax resident for a Year of Assessment if you’re:
- a Singapore citizen or permanent resident who normally resides in Singapore, apart from temporary absences;
- a foreigner who stayed or worked in Singapore for 183 days or more in the calendar year before it;
- a foreigner who stayed or worked there continuously for three consecutive years; or
- a foreign employee who worked there for a continuous period straddling two calendar years, with a stay of 183 days or more.
Income is taxed on a preceding year basis: the Year of Assessment 2027 taxes income from 1 January to 31 December 2026. A foreigner with a work pass valid for a year or more is treated as tax resident too, and that’s reviewed against these rules when the job ends.
IRAS’s own examples:
| In Singapore | Tax resident? |
|---|---|
| 1 April to 3 October 2025: 186 days | Yes, for the Year of Assessment 2026 |
| 3 July to 31 December 2025: 182 days | No, for the Year of Assessment 2026 |
| Working 3 November 2024 to 7 May 2025, 183 days or more in a row | Yes, for 2025 and 2026 |
| Staying or working there three years in a row | Yes, for all three |
How the days are counted
- Both ends of a stay count: 1 April to 3 October is 186 days in IRAS’s example.
- Days of employment include weekends and public holidays.
- Temporary absences still count towards your days of employment — leave abroad, business trips.
- The two-year concession needs a continuous period of 183 days or more, counting your stay just before and after the job.
Resident or non-resident
A tax resident pays the progressive resident rates, from 0% to 24%, can claim reliefs, and foreign-sourced income received in Singapore is generally tax-exempt. A non-resident is taxed on income earned in Singapore without personal reliefs: employment income at the higher of 15% or the resident rates, director’s fees and other income at 24%.
Worked example
Arriving on 1 April and staying, you reach 183 days on 30 September — tax resident for the next Year of Assessment. Arriving on 3 July, the year holds at most 182 days: one short, unless the two-year concession for employees applies.
Other countries count their days their own way: Malaysia, New Zealand, the UAE and the rest in the 183-day rule by country.
How FlySee counts it
FlySee has no Singapore tracker built in; a tax tracker of your own counts the test: Singapore, reach 183 days, the calendar year, any part of a day — IRAS counts the days you arrive and leave. If you’re employed in Singapore, IRAS also counts temporary absences, such as leave abroad and business trips, as days of employment: add those as stays, as the calculator counts only the days you enter. The two- and three-year concessions aren’t counted.