Edition, scope and responsibility
This nineteen-page sixth edition was published on 30 January 2026. It covers income-tax records for businesses not registered for GST: sole proprietors, partnerships, LLPs, LPs, companies, clubs, associations, management corporations, non-profits, statutory boards and government bodies. Eligible small businesses may instead choose the separate simplified regime introduced on 1 January 2014. Owners and directors remain responsible for a system supporting their declarations, even when bookkeeping is delegated.
What records are needed, including platform transactions
Retain original transaction evidence such as invoices, receipts, vouchers, contracts and bank statements; accounting ledgers, schedules and journals recording assets, liabilities, income, costs and profits; and other written transaction evidence. This applies to cash and digital transactions alike, including PayNow, BNPL, e-commerce and delivery platforms. Accurate records help identify financial performance or internal fraud and reduce filing and query work.
Paper and electronic records
Paper source documents and duplicates of customer invoices must be legible and organised; copy thermal receipts before they fade. Electronic records may use office applications, standard/custom accounting software or image systems. Paper duplicates are unnecessary for tax purposes where electronic source documents are properly retained, and prior IRAS approval for electronic storage is unnecessary. Controls must preserve integrity, completeness, accuracy, availability and reliability. Image-system controls may follow the Evidence (Computer Output) Regulations for capture, storage, output, applications and physical/system security; certification may be chosen for business needs.
Software, backups and missing records
ASR+ lists software integrated with IRAS APIs and recommended features. Electronic records can make entries, management updates, reports and backups easier and reduce storage/manual work. A simple manual system may suit low volume, but growing multi-outlet operations need suitable capacity. Keep source documents in either form and records up to date so declarations can be verified. Back up safely; if lost or destroyed, reconstruct using other relevant documents. Without adequate records IRAS may estimate performance and disallow expenses or allowances.
Five-year retention, closure and the EIS exception
Income Tax Act records generally require five years. Companies and LLPs must additionally retain records for five years after striking off, dissolution or winding up. Responsibility on cessation rests with the officer immediately before dissolution, or the liquidator in a liquidation. Officers include relevant directors, secretaries, executives, LLP managers, receivers/managers and voluntary liquidators. Other laws may require records too. EIS cash-payout claim records extend to seven years under sections 37R(24)/(26). These are distinct clocks, not one universal five-year period.
Consequences of inadequate records
Non-compliance may offend section 67 read with section 94: IRAS may estimate revenue using best judgement, reject expenses/capital allowances and impose penalties. The source states a maximum S$5,000 fine and up to six months’ imprisonment in default of payment; that imprisonment qualification should not be omitted.
Income evidence and use of cash takings
Keep serial receipts/vouchers or register tapes, tenant leases, records of privately consumed stock, credit notes, export delivery/bills/air-waybills/permits, payment evidence and customer contracts. Sales proceeds spent directly on costs or purchases still form sales revenue. Likewise record personal drawings from takings without reducing recorded sales. Appendix 2 provides a daily revenue format.
Expenses and purchases
Expenses need supplier invoices or receipts, service-payment vouchers with recipient acknowledgement and contracts, remuneration vouchers, employer CPF evidence, landlord leases, payment evidence and AGM/EGM approval of directors’ fees. Purchases need supplier invoices/receipts/credit notes, debit notes, import bills/permits/subsidiary certificates/AEC inward summaries, payment evidence and contracts. Record purchases daily; tax or simplified tax invoices may come from GST-registered suppliers even though the buyer is not registered.
Accounting schedules and audit file formats
Keep closing stock lists, sales/purchase listings, general ledgers for assets/liabilities/income/costs, transport/overseas travel/entertainment details and fixed-asset schedules. They support P&L and balance sheet but do not replace underlying source documents. Industry templates may help sole proprietors. On IRAS request, data listings can be Excel, Access or delimited text such as CSV; non-data material can be Word or Adobe Acrobat documents.
Sales invoices: all eight information groups
An invoice should identify its number, issue date, business name/address/registration number, customer name/address, goods/services and supply type, each item’s quantity or service extent and price, cash discount and total price. Own-designed or preprinted formats are permitted. Electronic invoices need completeness/accuracy and anti-manipulation controls, readable retention and no duplicate paper issue to customers already given the electronic invoice. For cash payment, record that payment was received and its receipt date.
Receipts and cash-register tapes
Receipts may be issued and should be supplied on customer request; number serially and retain copies. Not issuing receipts does not need IRAS approval, but all income must remain accurately recorded with a documented audit trail, for example register/software entries. Obtain purchase receipts regardless of payment mode or amount. They show date, business name/registration number and total; a register receipt also needs a description. Retain evidence for free goods to staff/customers even without payment. Register every cash sale and retain the internal tape; record daily totals as good practice.
Private stock and credit notes
Add the market value of privately consumed stock to sales. Credit notes record returns, retrospective discounts, mistakes, damaged/incorrect goods or partial/full charge waivers before delivery. Each note includes number/date, seller and customer names/addresses, original invoice number/date, goods/services, reason, quantities/amounts credited per item and total credit. These records substantiate reduced sales, rather than merely reducing a bank receipt.
All import/export evidence and bank reconciliation
Where applicable keep permits, subsidiary certificates, shipment and parcel-despatch notes, courier consignments, AEC inward summaries, bills of lading/air-waybills, IESGP customs permits, invoices/orders, packing lists, delivery notes, insurance and payments. Retain all business bank statements. Prefer separate personal/business accounts; otherwise distinguish transactions. Regularly deposit receipts and use traceable digital payments. Reconcile direct debits, charges and interest that appear only once statements arrive.
Payroll and payments to individual service providers
For wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions and allowances keep employee full name, identification and designation, payment vouchers/schedules and employer CPF statements, supporting IR8A preparation. Individual service-payment vouchers, such as cleaning or freelance bookkeeping, need recipient name, identification/address, payment date and service nature, calculation basis and acknowledgement. A transfer alone does not supply all these details.
Stock lists and all travel/entertainment fields
Count physical stock at each accounting-period end; stock includes items produced, manufactured or acquired for manufacture or sale. Public transport records show date/destination, mode, claimant name/designation, purpose and amount. Overseas travel also records duration; entertainment instead identifies date/place, claimant, purpose, people entertained and amount. Keep taxi receipts/travel documents: card slips or monthly card statements alone are insufficient.
Fixed assets, capital allowances and practical controls
For each asset record purchase date/cost and sale date/price, retaining contracts, hire-purchase agreements and invoices. Capital purchases are not ordinary expense deductions; record allowable capital-allowance claims separately so future balances are correct. Start record keeping when business starts, use a system understandable beyond accounts staff with receivable/payable reminders, enter transactions daily, collect evidence immediately, cross-reference payment numbers, check accuracy and use a business bank account.
Appendices and revision history
The PDF links separate templates: 1A P&L, 1B balance sheet, 2 daily revenue, 3 daily purchases, 4 credit note, 5 payroll, 6 stock, 7 public transport, 8 overseas trips, 9 entertainment and 10 fixed assets. These are references, not additional pages printed in this PDF. 2015 removed obsolete iSPRINT; 2017 clarified electronic records and ceased-business retention; 2018 removed obsolete pre-2007 seven-year rules; 2024 updated ASR+, electronic invoices, law references and S$5,000 maximum fine; 2025 clarified payment/platform coverage. Further guidance is under the individual self-employed record pages and corporate Record Keeping Requirements.
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
Read the official PDF ↗