With effect from Year of Assessment (YA) 2026, Singapore’s Spouse Relief and Spouse Relief (Disability) rules have been broadened to include qualifying maintenance payments made by legally separated wives to their husbands. The change removes the previous gender-based restriction, under which only legally separated husbands making maintenance payments to their wives could qualify.
Impact on Individual Income Tax
The revised treatment may allow a legally separated wife to reduce her assessable income where she is required to maintain her husband under a court order or deed of separation.
For qualifying legally separated spouses, the relief is generally limited to the lowest of:
- the maintenance payments made during the preceding year;
- S$2,000 for Spouse Relief; or
- S$5,500 for Spouse Relief (Disability).
The amendment applies from YA 2026. Accordingly, relevant maintenance payments made during the 2025 calendar year may be considered when preparing the individual’s YA 2026 income tax return, subject to all qualifying conditions being satisfied.
There is no corresponding extension for payments made to a former spouse following divorce. IRAS states that taxpayers paying alimony to a divorced spouse are not eligible for these reliefs.
Practical Issues
- Evidence of legal separation: The taxpayer should retain the relevant court order or deed of separation establishing the obligation to make maintenance payments.
- Proof of payment: Bank statements, payment records and other supporting documents should be maintained to substantiate the amount paid during the relevant basis year.
- Relief amount: Where actual maintenance payments are below the statutory relief limit, the claim must be restricted to the amount paid.
- Disability-related claims: A claim for Spouse Relief (Disability) should be supported by evidence that the spouse satisfies the applicable disability conditions.
- Overlapping dependant reliefs: Where Spouse Relief or Spouse Relief (Disability) is claimed for an individual, another taxpayer generally cannot claim Parent Relief, Parent Relief (Disability) or Sibling Relief (Disability) for the same dependant.
- Tax filing systems and checklists: Tax preparation templates, eligibility questionnaires and internal review procedures should be updated to reflect that qualifying claims may now be made by either legally separated spouse.
- Personal relief cap: The relief remains part of the taxpayer’s overall personal income tax relief claims, which are subject to the prevailing S$80,000 annual cap.
Action plans
Individuals who made maintenance payments to a legally separated husband during 2025 should review their eligibility before filing their YA 2026 tax return. Tax advisers and employers providing tax compliance support should also revise their filing guidance and client information requests to capture claims arising from the expanded rules.
The amendment affects the direction in which qualifying maintenance payments may be made but does not otherwise remove the need to satisfy the existing eligibility, documentation and claim-limitation requirements.
Source: IRAS, 30 July 2026.