A. Introduction
On 18 February 2025, Prime Minister and Finance Minister
Lawrence Wong delivered Singapore's 2025 Budget Statement. In
this client alert, we unpack key themes from the Minister's
Budget Statement and highlight the pertinent tax changes introduced
in this year's Budget Statement as well as their
implications.
B. Budget speech takeaways
1. Fiscal position
On Singapore's current fiscal position, the Minister
announced in the Budget Statement that Singapore is expected to
close the Financial Year (FY) 2024 with a budget
surplus of $6.4 billion (0.9% of GDP), with a similar surplus of
$6.8 billion (0.9% of GDP) projected for FY2025. Notably, such
surplus is primarily driven by higher Corporate Income Tax
(CIT) collections, which have now become the
largest contributor to total fiscal revenue. The Minister
attributed this growth to industry-specific cyclical factors and
shifting investment decisions of multinational enterprises
(MNEs), as they
