Board Director

Key Requirements

The page uses physical presence below 183 days in the calendar year to describe non-resident board directors. Payments in board capacity can attract withholding, whereas remuneration in executive employment capacity follows the employment income route. Being called an executive director does not erase fees paid separately for board duties. Identify the actual capacity of each payment and keep the appointment and remuneration approvals. A director resident for at least 183 days may seek the described recalculation and refund if tax was withheld at non-resident rates.

Split Board Fees from Executive Employment Pay

A person can hold both roles, but each payment must be identified in its actual capacity. IRAS distinguishes fees for membership of the board from salary for executive work. Keep the board-fee approval and employment remuneration terms separately traceable, particularly where one payroll payment combines them. The executive title does not remove withholding from a separate payment received in the capacity of a non-resident board director.

For a non-resident board director of a Singapore tax-resident company, the detailed obligations page states that the board remuneration is taxable regardless of where the board meeting took place or whether the director worked physically in Singapore. Do not use an overseas meeting location as an automatic withholding exemption. The company’s tax residence and the capacity of payment are therefore relevant alongside the individual’s physical-presence record.

Check Withholding and the Later Residence Evidence

The current board-fee withholding rate is 24%, with the older 22% rate limited to the source’s specified 2016–2022 period. The payer files and pays by the fifteenth of the second month from the applicable payment date. If the individual later meets the calendar-year resident refund conditions, use the separate Form B1 and payment-confirmation process rather than silently ignoring an earlier deduction. A practical remuneration schedule should show the fee approval, income year, payment capacity and withholding receipt so the board and executive reporting routes can be reconciled.