IRAS Penalty Waiver: How to Appeal Late Payment, GST and Late Filing Penalties

To get an IRAS penalty waiver, you appeal through the Appeal Penalty Waiver digital service on myTax Portal and get the outcome instantly. IRAS only considers the appeal once you have fixed the problem, usually by paying the overdue tax in full or filing the overdue return before the date on the notice, and your recent record is good. Approved waivers reach your tax account within 3 working days.

This guide is for company directors, GST-registered businesses and individuals holding a late payment penalty, a GST late submission penalty or an offer of composition. Amounts are in Singapore dollars (SGD), and the rules are as at November 2026. Act quickly: most of these penalties grow every month, and a waiver is meant to be a one-off concession.

Key takeaways

• Appeal only through the Appeal Penalty Waiver digital service on myTax Portal. The outcome is instant, and approved waivers show in your account within 3 working days. Withholding tax (WHT) late payment penalties are the exception: they go through IRAS's Request for S45 WHT Penalty Waiver, which IRAS processes within 15 working days.
• Late payment (corporate tax, personal tax, GST): pay the tax in full, reflected in your tax account, by the due date on the penalty notice, with no waiver in the past 2 calendar years (and, for GST, all returns filed).
• Late GST returns ($200, plus $200 per completed month, up to $10,000 per return): file, pay all overdue GST, and have filed on time for the past 1 year.
• Compositions for late income tax returns (up to $5,000 per offence): file before the offer's due date, with on-time filing for the past 2 years.
• Can't pay in full? Ask for a GIRO payment plan, ideally before the payment due date. IRAS aims to decide within 15 working days.

Table of Contents

1. Which IRAS Penalties Can You Ask to Waive?
2. What IRAS Checks Before Granting a Waiver
3. How to Request an IRAS Penalty Waiver on myTax Portal
4. What to Write in Your Waiver Request
5. What If You Cannot Pay the Tax in Full?
6. What Happens If IRAS Rejects Your Appeal?
7. Common Mistakes That Sink a Waiver Request
8. How to Avoid IRAS Penalties Next Year
9. When Should You Get Professional Help?
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Official Sources

Which IRAS Penalties Can You Ask to Waive?

The waiver service covers the penalties most SMEs and individuals receive. The table sets out IRAS's published rates and the conditions an appeal must meet before IRAS will consider it. Property tax penalties have their own appeal service and are not covered here.

Withholding tax penalties have their own appeal route too. WHT is the tax a business withholds from certain payments to non-residents, such as a non-resident director's fees or a non-resident consultant's fees for work done in Singapore, and must file on the S45 form and pay to IRAS. IRAS's withholding tax late payment page says a late payment penalty on WHT must be appealed through its Request for S45 WHT Penalty Waiver. IRAS considers the request only if the overdue tax is paid in full, no waiver was granted in the past 2 calendar years and you undertake to pay on time in future, and it processes requests within 15 working days. The form is only for payers who filed on time but paid late: if you filed the S45 form late as well, IRAS's form points you to its Voluntary Disclosure Programme instead.

What the numbers look like:

• Corporate tax (example): on $20,000 of unpaid tax, the 5% penalty is $1,000 and each additional 1% is $200, so three completed months of additional penalty take the total to $1,600.
• GST: in IRAS's example, $10,000 due on 31 July 2025 and paid on 16 December 2025 attracted $1,300 of penalties: $500 at 5%, plus 2% for 4 months, August to November ($800).
• Late GST return: a return due on 30 April and filed on 5 June costs $400 ($200, plus $200 for one completed month). Each late return is penalised separately.

To model your own case, try our late filing penalty calculator.

What IRAS Checks Before Granting a Waiver

IRAS's penalty pages don't say which reasons it accepts. They set conditions, and the digital service answers on the spot, so run through this checklist before you log in:

• Paid in full, not in part, for a late payment penalty.
• Reflected in your tax account by the due date on the penalty notice, not just sent from your bank. Payment modes take different times to process.
• Every required return filed: for a GST late payment penalty waiver, other GST periods too; for a composition, the overdue return and any documents IRAS asked for, before the due date in the offer.
• A clean recent record: no waiver in the past 2 calendar years (late payment), on-time GST returns for the past year (GST late submission), or on-time returns for the past 2 years (composition).
• The right timing: a corporate composition for the current Year of Assessment (YA) can only be appealed after 30 November.

The late payment appeal screen in IRAS's user guide (March 2025) treats the waiver as a first-time concession. IRAS will consider it if this is your first appeal, you have had no other late offences in the last 2 years and you undertake to pay on time in future. You also tick a box accepting that future appeals will be rejected if you are late again. Meeting the conditions gets your appeal considered; it does not guarantee approval.

How to Request an IRAS Penalty Waiver on myTax Portal

These steps follow IRAS's user guide for corporate tax. The same Account menu lists "Appeal for Penalty Waiver (GST)", and individuals use the Appeal for Penalty Waiver service. IRAS says an appeal takes about 3 to 5 minutes.

1. Fix the cause first. Pay the tax in full or file the overdue return, and wait until the payment shows in your tax account.
2. Check Corppass access. Assign both Corporate Tax (Filing and Applications) and Corporate Tax (Payment) to whoever appeals for the company; between them they cover both kinds of appeal. For GST, the service sits under GST (Payment).
3. Log in to myTax Portal as "Company/ Business Tax", or through "Tax Agent Login" and then "Business Client" if you are the company's tax agent.
4. Open the appeal: Account > "Appeal for Penalty Waiver (Corporate Tax)". Choose Corporate Tax, then "Late Payment Penalty Waiver" or "Composition Amount Waiver", and tick the conditions shown.
5. Enter the details: the YA, your designation, contact number and email address. Late payment appeals cover 1 back YA, the current YA and 2 advance YAs, so don't leave an old penalty too long.
6. Give your reason. If asked, tick the reason that applies, or tick "Others, please specify" and type a short explanation, then confirm that your reasons are true.
7. Submit and save. Keep the window open until the Result page appears, then save it as a PDF; a copy also goes to Notices/ Letters. Check View Account Summary after 3 working days.

What to Write in Your Waiver Request

In the corporate tax flow shown in IRAS's user guide, the reason screen lists four preset reasons: dormant company; no access to documents due to investigation; shortage or change of accounting staff; and company personnel or tax agent having a medical condition. Anything else goes in "Others, please specify", which allows 500 characters. The GST and individual screens may differ, but the same approach works.

Use that space for three facts: what happened, what you have fixed and what you have changed. Adapt this template, which runs to about 400 characters once filled in, and delete anything that isn't true:

Late payment penalty for YA [2026]. The tax of $[amount] was paid in full on [date], before the due date in the penalty notice. The payment was late because [one factual sentence, e.g. our GIRO arrangement was cancelled after deductions failed when we changed banks, and we did not notice]. We have since [what you changed, e.g. set up GIRO with our new bank and added all IRAS due dates to our finance calendar]. We have paid on time in previous years.

For a composition, start instead with: "Late filing of Form C-S for YA [2025]. The overdue return was filed on [date], before the due date in the offer of composition."

• Be specific. "We were busy" explains nothing; a dated cause you can prove does.
• Don't blame your agent alone. IRAS states that directors remain responsible for filing and payment, even when an appointed tax agent fails to deal with them promptly.
• Keep the evidence: the notice, proof of the payment date, the filing acknowledgement, documents behind your reason and the saved Result page. The appeal flow in IRAS's user guide has no upload step, so this file is your record.

What If You Cannot Pay the Tax in Full?

If you can't clear the tax by the date on the penalty notice, you won't meet the late payment waiver condition. The priority then is an approved payment arrangement before the debt reaches recovery action: IRAS can appoint your bank, tenant or lawyer as its agent to collect the tax, take legal action or, for individuals, sole proprietors and partners, issue a Travel Restriction Order. IRAS asks taxpayers in difficulty to contact it before the payment due date, so don't wait for the next notice.

• Request a payment plan through Apply/Manage GIRO Plan on myTax Portal. Plans are only available by GIRO.
• Explain why. IRAS lists financial distress (such as lawsuits from creditors or business closure), slow collections from debtors, reduced sales and higher overheads. Documentary evidence may be required, and IRAS aims to decide within 15 working days.
• Stick to the schedule. If you don't, IRAS cancels the plan and imposes penalties and/or takes recovery action. Corporate tax GIRO deducts on the 6th of each month, with a second attempt on the 20th; if both fail, the arrangement is cancelled and the unpaid tax becomes due immediately.
• Individuals can pay income tax by GIRO in up to 12 interest-free monthly instalments.

An objection doesn't pause the clock either: IRAS says you must still pay the tax on the NOA, and it refunds any excess if the assessment is revised.

What Happens If IRAS Rejects Your Appeal?

The Result page shows a rejection immediately. IRAS's pages describe no second appeal and ask you not to send appeals by myTax Mail, email or phone. Instead:

1. Pay the penalty by the due date on the notice. If you pay GST by GIRO, IRAS deducts the late submission penalty by GIRO.
2. Clear any tax still unpaid. The additional monthly penalties run on unpaid tax, so paying it stops them growing.
3. Settle a composition by the offer's due date, quoting the payment slip number (GIRO is not accepted), and file every outstanding return. Otherwise IRAS may issue a Notice to Attend Court/Summons. For 2 or more years of non-filing, a court can order, on conviction, a penalty of twice the tax assessed plus a fine of up to $5,000 per offence.
4. If the tax is wrong, fix the assessment. The penalty is a percentage of the tax: in IRAS's example, an estimated assessment of $10,000 was revised to $1,300 after an objection, and the $500 penalty fell to $65. Companies object within 2 months of the NOA through Revise/ Object to Assessment, and an estimate raised for non-filing is revised only once the return, accounts and tax computation are in. For GST, filing the overdue F5 or F8 within 5 years of the end of the accounting period replaces the estimate and its penalty with actual figures. Our IRAS estimated Notice of Assessment guide explains the process.

Whatever a company ends up paying, the penalty is not tax-deductible: IRAS lists fines and penalties among the non-deductible expenses to add back in Form C-S.

Common Mistakes That Sink a Waiver Request

• Paying on the due date by a slow method, so the payment isn't reflected in your tax account in time.
• Paying most, not all, of the tax shown on the notice.
• Forgetting another overdue GST return before a GST late payment appeal.
• Ticking a reason that doesn't fit, such as "dormant company" for a trading company. You are confirming that your reasons are true.
• Confusing IRAS with ACRA. A late annual return penalty is ACRA's, appealed through ACRA's own Late Lodgment Appeal Form; ACRA says a review takes about four weeks.

How to Avoid IRAS Penalties Next Year

• Corporate tax by GIRO, with ECI filed early: filing Estimated Chargeable Income within 1, 2 or 3 months of the financial year end gives 10, 8 or 6 monthly instalments; after 3 months, none.
• GST by GIRO: IRAS deducts on the 15th of the month after the due date, so a return due on 30 April is deducted on 15 May. The GIRO application must be approved before the payment due date to avoid a late payment penalty.
• One calendar for every deadline: ECI within 3 months of the year end, Form C-S or C by 30 November (30 November 2026 for YA 2026), each GST F5 one month after its period, and individual returns by 18 April. Our business filing deadlines and penalties guide lists them, and our GST F5 filing guide walks through each box.
• Current contact details and notice preferences in myTax Portal, so notices reach someone who will act on them.
• Can't file Form C-S or C by 30 November? The Request Extension of Time to File service opens after 30 November, for the current YA only, not for earlier years' returns.

When Should You Get Professional Help?

If you meet the conditions and the tax on the notice is right, an IRAS penalty waiver appeal takes minutes and costs nothing, so do it yourself. Get help when:

• you don't qualify and need a payment plan request backed by documents;
• the penalty sits on an estimated assessment, and the return, accounts and tax computation must be ready within the 2-month objection window;
• several YAs or GST periods are overdue, or you hold an offer of composition, a Notice to Attend Court or a section 65B(3) notice to a director (a director convicted of not complying faces a fine of up to $10,000, up to 12 months' imprisonment, or both, per offence);
• you've found errors in filed returns, where the IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme means no penalty for a qualifying disclosure within the 1-year grace period.

Tax Filing SG is run by ex-Big 4 Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA members). Once your company authorises us in Corppass, we can file overdue returns through our corporate tax filing service, bring F5 returns up to date with our GST filing service, help you set up GIRO and handle the appeal or payment plan with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will IRAS waive a late payment penalty?

It may, if you meet its conditions. For corporate tax, personal tax and GST, IRAS considers a waiver only if the overdue tax was paid in full, and is reflected in your tax account, by the due date on the late payment penalty notice, and no waiver was granted in the past 2 calendar years. For GST, all required returns must be filed too. Meeting the conditions does not guarantee approval.

Can I appeal a GST late filing penalty?

Yes, through the Appeal Penalty Waiver digital service on myTax Portal. IRAS considers the appeal only if you have filed the outstanding GST returns, paid all overdue GST and filed your GST returns on time for the past 1 year. The late submission penalty is $200, plus $200 for every completed month the return is outstanding, up to $10,000 per return.

How long does IRAS take to reply to a waiver request?

The penalty waiver digital service gives an instant outcome on screen, and successful appeals are reflected in your tax account within 3 working days. IRAS says the appeal itself takes about 3 to 5 minutes to complete. A request for a longer payment plan is slower: IRAS aims to give its decision within 15 working days.

Do I need to pay the tax before requesting a waiver?

For a late payment penalty, yes. The overdue tax must be paid in full, and showing in your tax account, by the due date on the late payment penalty notice. For a GST late submission penalty, the returns must be filed and all overdue GST paid. For a composition, the overdue return must be filed before the due date in the offer.

Can a composition fine be waived?

A composition for filing an income tax return late can be appealed through the same digital service. IRAS considers it only if the outstanding returns or documents were submitted before the due date in the offer of composition and your returns were filed on time for the past 2 years. For corporate tax, the appeal for the current Year of Assessment opens only after 30 November. If the appeal fails, pay the composition by the offer's due date, with every outstanding return filed, to avoid prosecution.

Can IRAS waive a penalty more than once?

Not easily. For a late payment penalty, IRAS considers a waiver only if none was granted in the past 2 calendar years, and the appeal screen in its user guide treats the waiver as a first-time concession: you accept that future appeals will be rejected if you are late again. For GST late returns and compositions, IRAS looks instead at your filing record: on time for the past 1 year (GST) or 2 years (compositions).

Can I email IRAS or use myTax Mail to appeal instead?

IRAS asks taxpayers not to. Its penalty pages say that, to avoid delays, appeals should not be sent through other channels such as myTax Mail, email or calls. Use the Appeal Penalty Waiver digital service on myTax Portal, which gives an instant outcome, and keep your notice, proof of payment and supporting documents on file.

Official Sources

• IRAS: Late payment or non-payment of corporate income tax
• IRAS: Late filing or non-filing of Form C-S, C-S (Lite) and C
• IRAS: Late payment or non-payment of GST
• IRAS: Late filing or non-filing of GST returns (F5/F8)
• IRAS: Late payment or non-payment of individual income tax
• IRAS: Late filing or non-filing of individual income tax returns
• IRAS: User guide, Appeal for Penalty Waiver (Corporate Tax), PDF
• IRAS: Experiencing difficulties in paying your tax?

About Tax Filing SG — We are a Singapore accounting practice run by ex-Big 4 Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). We handle accounting, corporate tax, GST and company secretarial work for Singapore SMEs, including overdue and late filings.

Last updated: 9 November 2026. This article is general information based on IRAS and ACRA guidance as at November 2026, not advice for your specific situation. Rules, rates and deadlines change, so check the official sources above or speak to us before acting.