On 8 March 2013, I blogged about how we could pay less in income tax even as we increase our income. So, what can we do to achieve this?
1. Invest to receive non-taxable income.
2. Start a Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account and make annual contributions to reduce taxable earned income.
3. Donate more to charitable organisations recognised by the government and enjoy 2.5x tax deduction, if we can afford to do so.
The rather generous personal income tax rebate from the government helped me to save 30% in tax payable. For seniors who are still working, the rebate is 50%.
So, how much is my income tax for the Year of Assessment 2013?
S$ 1,133.23.
This is probably the lowest I have ever paid in income tax in the last 10 years. This is even though my total income for 2012 exceeded S$200,000.
What I have done is humanly possible. Compared to many big success ......