Singapore one of world's most cost-effective in collecting tax

Check out how low it costs the government to collect taxes.

"Every dollar of tax collected now costs us 0.78 cents (0.87 cents in the previous financial year), making us one of the most cost-effective tax administrations in the world," said the Internal Revenue Authority of Singapore in a release. "The cost of collecting taxes reached a four-year low."

IRAS has also been improving its gross revenue collection.

"IRAS served more than 3.6 million taxpayers, comprising individuals, property owners and businesses. We handled a total of 13.8 million payment transactions, and made 99% of tax refunds within 14 days from the date when the credit arises," it said.

The E-filing rate reached a new record of 97%, with 925,000 taxpayers filed their individual income tax returns electronically in YA2012. Also, 1.2 million employees – an increase of 100,000 employees - enjoyed a simplified filing experience as their salary information for YA2012 was provided to IRAS by their employers under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme for Employment Income.

Satisfaction is also at a high, with 95% of respondents to the biennial Taxpayer Survey conducted in 2011 were satisfied with IRAS’ service.