Singapore has no US tax treaty — which surprises almost everyone who moves there.
There is no US–Singapore income tax treaty and no totalization agreement. Singapore tax is progressive to 24%, and you can credit what you pay, but there is no treaty to allocate income between the two countries and no relief from US self-employment tax.
Tax snapshot — Singapore
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Sources: IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 901; SSA totalization agreement list; Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Checked 28 August 2026.
What that means on your return
The absence of a treaty is the fact to plan around. There is no treaty tie-breaker, no reduced withholding on US-source income, and no treaty position to take on a pension — only the ordinary credit for Singapore tax actually paid.
At a top rate of 24%, Singapore sits in the band where the exclusion and the credit genuinely compete. Below the exclusion threshold the exclusion is usually simpler; above it, with children and housing in the picture, the arithmetic can go either way and is worth computing rather than guessing.
Central Provident Fund contributions are not income taxes and are not creditable. Employer CPF contributions for a foreigner are limited in practice, but where any exists its US treatment is a question rather than an assumption.
If you are in Singapore as a…
Questions I get about Singapore
Is there really no US–Singapore tax treaty?
Correct. There is no income tax treaty and no totalization agreement. You claim a foreign tax credit for Singapore tax actually paid, and US self-employment tax applies with no relief.
Are my CPF contributions deductible or creditable on my US return?
No. Contributions to the Central Provident Fund are not income taxes, so they are not creditable, and they are not deductible against US income either.
Should I claim the exclusion or the foreign tax credit in Singapore?
It turns on your effective local rate. Where local tax is high the credit usually beats the exclusion and leaves your income counted for IRA purposes; where it is low the exclusion usually wins. Revoking the exclusion binds you for five years without IRS consent, so it is decided deliberately — that comparison is what the position review is for.
When is my return due?
15 June, under the automatic extension for filers living abroad. Form 4868 moves it to 15 October, and I file the extension free.
Do I have to file an FBAR for my Singaporean bank account?
If your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. You can file it free through FinCEN's own system. The non-willful penalty for not filing is $16,536.
I have not filed for several years. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: three returns, six FBARs and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Note that the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026.
Filing from Singapore this year?
Twenty minutes with the Enrolled Agent who will prepare and sign it. Complete return, $599.
An IRS Enrolled Agent working only on US tax for Americans living abroad. I prepare and sign every return myself — 17 years in practice, 12 of them as an Enrolled Agent.