How to File IR8A Online: From Pushing Paper to the Click of a Button

Editor’s note: This blog post, originally written in November 2022, has been updated in October 2023 to reflect the latest regulatory changes. Thank you for your continued support.

A modern solution for an age-old institution

The IR8A submission process used to be real hard work.

Every year, employers endured the laborious task of paper filing IR8A; imagine manually writing or typing in every single detail on a physical IR8A form – from employer details to the numerical value of each and every pay item. This meant they had to be well-versed with all the items in IR8A, including the different terms and stipulations.

Not to mention having to calculate Year-to-Date (YTD) salary/pay items without a software, and then double-, triple-checking with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) to make sure no errors had been committed.

This whole process would take hours to days depending on how many employees one had and how well organised (or not) employee and payroll data were kept without an HR or payroll platform.

Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS)

IRAS recognised this inconvenience and came up with the AIS in 2009. AIS automatically includes employees’ employment income information in their income tax assessment.

As of May 2020, AIS is now compulsory for companies with six or more employees (instead of 9 or more). It, therefore, goes without saying that IRAS would have already notified employers to file through them. AIS is optional for companies with fewer employees. Still, these companies can apply for AIS at myTaxPortal by following the steps over here.

While IR8A submission is much easier using an HR/payroll platform with the AIS file format, the submission process is still not as automated.  The whole process—as outlined below—is still not as efficient as it could be:

• Check through employees’ profiles and YTD figures in IR8A that your HR/payroll platform has compiled for you.
• Once done, download the AIS file format, which is a .txt file.
• Download a Java Application over here and upload the .txt file to validate it.  Once validation is successful, this will create an .iras file, which will be stored in your local drive.
• Then, head to myTaxPortal to submit this .iras file. 

Fast-forward to today: 1-click IR8A submission

In 2017, IRAS announced that they were offering their API to third-party developers. Since then, we’ve worked hard to build a direct integration to IRAS from our Payroll app. This finally launched in Jan 2018.  Now, submitting IR8A takes just one click of a button. Of course, this one-click process also ensures that your IR8A forms are checked thoroughly.

More HR automation coming your way

Why make CPF submission and salary disbursements with a click of a button possible? Well, with the direct integration with IRAS now an option, we say why not!

We are currently working hard to push CPF, MAS, and banks towards such automation with Talenox. As part of the push for a Smart Nation Singapore, we are eager to further automate all HR administrative processes. This includes investing our resources into making Talenox an even more automated HR SaaS for the countries we serve.  

Have an awesome tax submission period!

Automate your payroll and submit your Form IR8A now for free. Simply sign up for a 30-day FREE TRIAL with Talenox today.

Read more informative articles on Employee Income Tax Filing and IR8A Submissions:

• IR8A Simplified for Employers
• How-To: Amend Submitted IR8A Forms
• Submit IR8A Directly to IRAS with a Free Talenox Account