Businesses can continue claiming tax benefits under the Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS) for qualifying training costs incurred on expired EIS-eligible courses, provided expenses were paid before the course’s official support end date.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) confirmed this position in its latest guidance, clarifying that enhanced deductions or cash payouts remain accessible for costs related to lapsed courses if:
- Training aligns with EIS qualifying criteria,
- Costs were incurred during Years of Assessment (YA) 2024 to 2028,
- Payment occurred before the course’s published support end date.
This applies even if the actual EIS claim is submitted after the course’s eligibility expiry.
Key Details for Taxpayers:
- Eligibility Window: Costs must relate to training delivered between YA 2024 and YA 2028.
- Critical Deadline: Payment date (not claim date) must precede the course’s support end date.
- Resource: A dedicated list of expired EIS-eligible courses is available via IRAS at https://go.gov.sg/expired-eis-courses.
This clarification ensures businesses retain entitlements to EIS benefits—either a 400% tax deduction or 20% cash payout—for strategic training investments made within the scheme’s parameters, mitigating administrative friction around course expiry timelines.
Source: IRAS, 10 December 2024.