Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation

bill Companies planning to expand overseas can benefit from the DTDi tax deduction scheme with a 200% tax deduction on eligible expenses for international market expansion and investment development activities

world DTDi supports activities across key stages of a company's overseas growth journey

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About this programme

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. Employee overseas posting will be subsumed under the Overseas trade office from 1 January 2026. Companies applying for salaries of Singaporean/ Singaporean Permanent Resident posted overseas (previously supported under Employee overseas posting) should submit their application under Overseas trade office form.

Please refer here for the list of approved local trade publications, list of approved virtual trade fairs and the list of standards and certifications approved by EnterpriseSG.

Automatic DTDi
With effect from Year of Assessment 2027, you can claim 200% tax deduction on the first S$400,000 of eligible expenses for all activities (except for “Overseas Trade Office” and “E-Commerce Campaigns” when filing your tax returns with IRAS. The cap of $400,000 is applied on a per company basis, regardless of the number of DTDi activities claimed.

The activities covered under the automatic DTDi are as follows.

Please ensure that the expenses are qualifying for the activities before filing for the claims.

Eligibility

To be eligible for DTDi, businesses must:

Be a business entity that is a tax resident in Singapore or have a permanent establishment in Singapore
Have incurred expenses for the primary purpose of promoting the trading of goods or provision of services
Undertake a project for a qualifying activity, and the project must meet at least one of the following objectives:
- Promote the company's new products or services in new target markets
- Identify new customers in target markets for the company's existing products or services
- Promote the company's new products or services to existing customers
- Promote the company's existing products and services in existing markets to increase market share

Additional requirements for companies receiving other tax incentives

Businesses already enjoying tax incentives may also avail themselves to the DTDi scheme by applying to EnterpriseSG or the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). In line with the policy intent of the scheme, they must have their global headquarters in Singapore, with expenses incurred for the primary purpose of trading in goods or providing services, and have an intention to internationalise.

These tax incentives refer to those under:

the Income Tax Act 1947 – Sections 13A, 13E, 13P, 13S, 43C, 43D, 43E, 43G, 43I, 43J, 43L, 43P, 43Q, 43R, 43U, 43V and 43X; or
the Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) Act 1967 – Parts 2, 3, 4 and 8.

Benefits of DTDI

The examples below illustrate potential tax savings through DTDi when an eligible expense is not an Allowable Business Expense¹ under the Income Tax.

Case 1: Company A spent S$10,000 to participate in an overseas tradeshow to reach out to its buyers in Europe

	Without DTDi support	With DTDi support
Revenue	S$100,000	S$100,000
DTDi eligible expense of S$10,000	(S$10,000)	(S$20,000)
Other expenses	(S$20,000)	(S$20,000)
Taxable income	S$70,000	S$60,000
Tax payable (@ 17% as of YA2015)	S$11,900	S$10,200
Tax Savings from DTDi	N.A.	$1,700

¹ Allowable expenses generally relate to expenses incurred and related to the specified business. For more details please refer to IRAS website.

How to apply

Register as a new DTDi user

Please refer here if you are new to Enterprise Singapore Incentive Management System (ESIMS).

Submit application online

Submit your application online with your Corppass for activities:

that do not fall under automatic DTDi
with quantum exceeding the first S$150,000 for that year of assessment under automatic DTDi

Applications must be submitted before project commencement.

Application process

We will process your application upon receipt of complete information. We may request for supporting documents to verify eligible expenses.

Submit evaluation forms

For approved applications, submit your evaluation forms upon project completion. We will thereafter proceed to issue a Letter of Support to support your claims with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

Attach Letter of Support to IRAS

Attach the Letter of Support from EnterpriseSG to IRAS when filing the company's annual income tax return. All other relevant supporting documents (like invoices, receipts, etc), should be compliant and made available to IRAS upon request.

Claims

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 the purpose and itinerary of the trip, list of companies met, invoices and receipts of the qualifying expenses.

Ready to apply?

If you are eligible for the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation (DTDi) incentive, submit your application on the DTDi incentive portal now.

Apply now