Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam unveiled the Budget in Parliament on 21 February 2015, which is aimed towards building Singapore’s future through more innovation, learning and expertise, and a fair and just society. In conjunction with the release of the Singapore Budget 2015, SICCI organised a seminar  on 27 February 2015.

The speaker for the seminar was MrAndrew Campos, owner and Director of MC Campos Tax Services Pte Ltd. Mr Andrew is well versed in corporate, GST and personal tax advisory, structuring and compliance matters having worked at IRAS and in public practice in Singapore covering a broad spectrum of clients. The speaker covered key aspects of the budget in significance to companies and entrepreneurs. The session was attended by working professionals from various industries and as well several entrepreneurs.

He spoke on the Government’s plan to support the next generation of businesses by promoting innovation and internationalisation. He briefed on the enhanced support schemes to be rolled out for small and medium enterprises that are looking to innovate and venture overseas, International Growth Scheme and Double Tax Deduction (DTD} Scheme were some of the new initiatives covered. The Productivity and Innovation Scheme has also been extended by three years, in a measure to support productivity.

To further support companies. Especially SMEs and to grow via strategic acquisitions, some adjustments have been made to the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Scheme which is a useful strategy to acquire scale, attract talent and compete effectively.

Emphasis on investing in skills of the future and empowering individuals to develop throughout their lite span, rather than only through formal education or early in their career was also a key highlight of the Budget 2015. Mr Andrew, had also briefed the crowd on changes to the Corporate Tax Rebate, CPF Pillar, Retirement Scheme and Foreign Worker Levies.