Companies planning to expand overseas can benefit from the Double Tax Deduction Scheme for Internationalisation (DTDi), with a 200% tax deduction on eligible expenses for international market expansion and investment development activities.
DTDi supports activities across key stages of a company's overseas growth journey, including:
Please refer here for a full list of qualifying activities and expenditure available for DTDi.
Please refer here for the list of approved local trade publications, list of approved virtual trade fairs (2021, 2022) and the list of standards and certifications approved by ESG.
You can automatically claim 200% tax deduction on the first S$150,000 of eligible expenses for nine activities per year of assessment. No prior approval from Enterprise Singapore is required for the following activities:
Eligible expenses on qualifying activities outside the nine areas, and expenses exceeding S$150,000 will require Enterprise Singapore's approval.
Note: Companies will need to apply to ESG for qualifying expenses under overseas market development trips/missions and investment study trips/missions listed here:
The examples below illustrate potential tax savings through DTDi when an eligible expense is not an Allowable Business Expense1 under the Income Tax.
Note: From year of assessment 2019: Automatic DTDi expenditure cap will be raised from $100,000 to $150,000.
1 Allowable expenses generally relate to expenses incurred and related to the specified business. For more details please refer to IRAS website.
SME should meet the following criteria:
Project should meet the following key objectives:
Applications must be submitted on the DTDi portal prior to starting the project.
2 Discretionary incentives refer to those under, (a) ITA - Sections 13A, 13E, 13P, 13S, 43C, 43D, 43E, 43G, 43I, 43J, 43L, 43P, 43Q, 43R, 43U, 43V, 43X or (b) Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) Act - Part 2, 3, 4 and 8.
If you are a new DTDi user, register here.
Click here for a detailed step-by-step guide.
After completing the project, you should submit the Evaluation Form for Enterprise Singapore to issue the Letter of Support for your claims with IRAS.
Companies are not required to submit upfront documentation to IRAS for expenditure not exceeding S$150,000. You will, however, need to produce documentation as proof of expenditure and purpose, should IRAS request. These include purpose and itinerary of the trip, list of companies met, invoices and receipts of the qualifying expenses.
Click here for frequently asked questions on DTDi.
Click here for frequently asked questions on Employee Overseas Posting.
For assistance, kindly contact us at +65 6898 1800 or reach out to us at go.gov.sg/askenterprisesg.