Singapore: Preparer identification | Research Credit Integrity Alliance

This page explains whether a Singapore research and development (R&D) or Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS) claim must identify the agent or adviser who prepared it. It describes the rules only and makes no recommendation.

Summary

Partly. No form reviewed for this page requires a company to name every adviser involved in an R&D claim. Two documents ask for related information:

Form C-S and Form C-S (Lite). Since YA 2021, the return asks whether it was reviewed by an accredited tax professional and for the reviewer's particulars, including an SCTP membership number where the reviewer is accredited.12
The R&D Claim Form. It asks for a person to contact on technical information about each project, and is declared by an authorized person of the company. It does not ask who prepared the claim.3

None of the forms reviewed asks for the basis or amount of an adviser's fee.13

The reviewer field in Form C-S

The explanatory notes to the YA 2026 Form C-S include a section headed "Particulars of Person who Reviewed the Return". They state that a reviewer "can include a tax agent, or an in-house tax professional", and give two examples:1

A tax agent's staff prepare the return from information provided by the company, a tax manager of the tax agent firm reviews the tax treatment, and a company director endorses and submits the return. The reviewer is the tax manager.
A company's accounts officer prepares the return and a director reviews the tax treatment and approves the submission. The reviewer is the director.

If the reviewer is an SCTP Accredited Tax Advisor, Accredited Tax Practitioner or Accredited Tax Practitioner (Provisional) for income tax, the company is asked to obtain the reviewer's SCTP membership number. Where there are several accredited reviewers, the details of any one of them are enough.1

IRAS's FAQs explain the purpose and the checks applied:

Point	What IRAS says
Why the question is asked	The information "will be used by IRAS for profiling purpose to better understand our taxpayers."2
When it started	IRAS refers to the question being asked "from YA 2021".2
Mandatory fields	The SCTP membership number and member name fields are compulsory, "to ensure we have complete information on the person who reviewed the CIT/GST return."2
Validation	Membership numbers must have three letters followed by four digits, and IRAS "may take additional steps to verify that the SCTP membership numbers provided are bona fide."2
Who counts as reviewer	IRAS's FAQs set out further scenarios, including where a partner of the tax agent firm endorses the return for submission.2

The reviewer is the person who reviews the corporate income tax treatment in the return. That person may differ from whoever worked out the R&D figures. Form C contains the same item. Its explanatory notes ask whether "the return has been reviewed by a person who is" an SCTP accredited professional for income tax, and repeat that the information will be used for profiling purposes.4

The declaration and contact person

Before a Form C-S is submitted, the person submitting it must tick the company's declaration, enter their designation, and enter "a contact person's name, designation and contact number".5 The tax agent version of IRAS's filing guide shows the same step, "Complete the Details of Filer & Contact Person".6

The R&D Claim Form

The R&D Claim Form for YA 2019 onwards asks, for each project, for:

a person to contact if clarification on technical information about the project is required, with full name, designation and contact number (item 5O); and
the qualifications of the persons who carried out the systematic, investigative and experimental study (item 5L).3

It is signed by an "authorised person" of the company, who gives a designation and the date and declares that the information is true and complete.3 The form has no field for the name of an adviser who prepared the claim, and none for the adviser's fee.3 Companies filing Form C submit the R&D Claim Form with the return. Companies filing Form C-S keep it and submit it when IRAS asks.7

The EIS cash payout application

A business that elects the EIS cash payout applies through IRAS's "Apply for EIS Cash Payout" digital service and, for R&D expenditure, submits the R&D Claim Form with the application.8 The official guidance reviewed for this page does not describe whether the application asks who prepared it.

Digital authorization

Agents who file for a company must be authorized by the company in Corppass, either as a Preparer, who can only complete the return, or as an Approver, who can complete, approve and submit it.9 The sources reviewed for this page do not describe how, or whether, this authorization appears in the return as filed.

Comparison of fields

Information about the adviser	Form C-S and Form C reviewer field124	R&D Claim Form3
Name	Yes, where the reviewer is SCTP accredited	No
SCTP membership number	Yes, if the reviewer is accredited	No
Firm name	Not mentioned in IRAS's notes	No
Technical contact for the project	No	Yes, may be anyone the company names
Basis or amount of fee	No	No

Sources

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Explanatory Notes to Form C-S for Year of Assessment (YA) 2026, section "Particulars of Person who Reviewed the Return". https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/explanatory-notes-to-ya-2026-form-c-s.pdf?sfvrsn=1d2386c1_20 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Filing of Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite) (updated 15 May 2026), questions 12 to 14. https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/faqs---file-form-c-s.pdf?sfvrsn=7b435b8f_52 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Research and Development (R&D) Claim Form (YA 2019 and onwards), Part 4 "Declaration" and Part 5, items 5L and 5O. https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/rnd-claim-form-(ya-2019-n-after).pdf?sfvrsn=72929970_40 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Explanatory Notes to Form C for Year of Assessment (YA) 2026, page 1, item on review of the return by an SCTP accredited professional. https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/explanatory-notes-to-ya-2026-form-c.pdf?sfvrsn=3b9e8f70_43 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Filing of Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite) (updated 15 May 2026), question 27. https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/faqs---file-form-c-s.pdf?sfvrsn=7b435b8f_52 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, User Guide (Tax Agent): File Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite), page 21, "Confirmation Page [Form C-S]". https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/user-guide-(ta)_file-form-c-sfee7cb93-35d6-4cc4-8b33-e4264592dbe7.pdf?sfvrsn=2702d7b9_27 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, IRAS e-Tax Guide: Research and Development Tax Measures (Eighth Edition, published 30 January 2026), paragraph 11.1 and footnote 21. https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/e-tax/research-and-development-tax-measures-etax-guide_6th-edition.pdf?sfvrsn=1f38a2e8_27 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS) (last updated 23 September 2026), section "How to Apply for the EIS Cash Payout". https://www.iras.gov.sg/schemes/disbursement-schemes/enterprise-innovation-scheme-(eis) (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Filing of Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite) (updated 15 May 2026), question 3. https://www.iras.gov.sg/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/pdf/faqs---file-form-c-s.pdf?sfvrsn=7b435b8f_52 (accessed 11 October 2026). Back