Under the current start-up exemption scheme, a newly incorporated company can claim full tax exemption on the first S$100,000 of chargeable income and 50% exemption for next S$ 200,000 of chargeable income. A company that qualifies should have been incorporated and tax resident in Singapore, and have no more than 20 shareholders of which at least one individual holds at least 10% of total number of issued ordinary shares. The full tax exemption is available for the first 3 consecutive Years of Assessment.

The Minister has proposed the start-up exemption scheme to be extended to companies limited by guarantee, subject to same conditions imposed on companies limited by shares, with effect from Year of Assessment 2010. (more…)

‘I have no intention of continuing to provide support for the construction of dwellings that are a sieve in terms of their energy consumption’, said President Sarkozy last month.

Accordingly, the deductibility of mortgage interest for new dwellings will progressively be reserved for very low energy consumption properties.

Existing properties remain unaffected by this proposal, as the announcement is clearly aimed at trying to persuade developers that they need to improve the energy performance of newly constructed dwellings. (more…)