Americans who relocate to Singapore for a regional headquarters role, a banking job, or a tech transfer often assume that a famously low-tax, business-friendly country means a lighter tax season. On the Singapore side that can be largely true: Singapore uses a territorial tax system with relatively low personal rates, and much of what a resident earns outside Singapore is never taxed there at all. But the United States taxes its citizens and green card holders on worldwide income no matter where they live, and unlike most other US expat destinations, Singapore has no comprehensive income tax treaty or totalization agreement with the United States. That leaves the domestic Foreign Tax Credit and Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, not a treaty, to carry the entire load of preventing double taxation for Americans living and working in Singapore.
Do US Citizens Living in Singapore Have to File Both Singapore and US Tax Returns?
Yes, in almost every case. Singapore taxes individuals who qualify as tax residents, generally those who work or live in Singapore for a defined period in a calendar year, on Singapore-source income through IRAS, while a US citizen or green card holder separately owes US tax regardless of Singapore residency. The two obligations run independently of each other: filing and paying tax to IRAS does not excuse a US Form 1040 filing, and filing the US return does not excuse the Singapore obligation.
Because Singapore has no comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States, there is no treaty mechanism sitting between the two filings the way there is for Americans in most other developed countries. The tools that keep the same income from being taxed twice, primarily the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit, operate entirely on the US side through deliberate international tax planning, since there is no treaty to lean on.
Does Singapore Tax Residents on Worldwide Income the Way the US Does?
No. Singapore uses a broadly territorial tax system, generally taxing income sourced within Singapore while treating most foreign-source income as outside the scope of Singapore tax for a typical resident, a structure very different from the US approach of taxing citizens on income earned anywhere in the world. IRAS residents pay Singapore tax primarily on employment income earned for work performed in Singapore and on Singapore-source investment and business income.
This territorial approach, combined with personal rates generally lower than comparable US brackets, is why the FEIE-versus-FTC decision plays out differently here than in high-tax Europe: when Singapore tax on a dollar of income is low, the Foreign Tax Credit alone may leave US tax still due, while the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion can eliminate it outright.
Should You Claim the FEIE or the Foreign Tax Credit on Singapore Income?
For many Americans working in Singapore, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion on Form 2555 is the stronger starting point, a reversal of the usual pattern in higher-tax expat destinations. Because Singapore's territorial system taxes relatively little of a resident's income at rates generally lower than comparable US rates, the Foreign Tax Credit on Form 1116 may not fully offset US tax on the same income.
Under IRC Section 911, the FEIE excludes foreign earned income up to an annually indexed maximum, for example $130,000 for 2025, from US taxable income before any credit calculation even begins. That is attractive for salaried Singapore income under the cap, but the usual tradeoffs still apply: the FEIE does nothing for self-employment tax, it can disqualify the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit for a family with children, and revoking the election generally locks you out of re-electing for five years without IRS consent. The Foreign Tax Credit, computed by category under IRC Sections 901 and 904, remains useful for income above the FEIE cap, and any unused credit carries back one year and forward ten years on Schedule B of Form 1116. Many Americans in Singapore combine the two, excluding wages under the FEIE cap and crediting Singapore tax paid above it. Our FEIE versus Foreign Tax Credit comparison walks through how to model both elections side by side.
Is There a US-Singapore Tax Treaty That Prevents Double Taxation?
No. The United States and Singapore have never entered into a comprehensive income tax treaty, which puts Singapore in a different position from most major US expat destinations. Without a treaty, there are no tie-breaker rules for someone who could be a tax resident of both countries in the same year, no treaty-reduced withholding on cross-border investment income, and no treaty provisions covering pensions or business profits to fall back on.
That absence is exactly why the domestic Foreign Tax Credit under IRC Sections 901 and 904 and the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion under IRC Section 911 carry the entire burden of preventing double taxation for Americans in Singapore. Edge cases that a treaty text would normally resolve, such as dual residency or which country taxes a given item of income first, have to be worked out purely under US domestic law and Singapore's own rules, with no coordinating document between the two.
Does a US-Singapore Totalization Agreement Cover Social Security?
No. The United States and Singapore have not signed a totalization agreement, so there is no mechanism assigning a worker to a single country's social security system the way there is for Americans in most of Western Europe, Canada, or Australia. That absence matters most for the self-employed, who can owe full US self-employment tax on Singapore self-employment income with no coordinating credit or exemption from the Singapore side.
Singapore's own system, the Central Provident Fund, generally requires contributions from Singapore citizens and permanent residents rather than foreign employees on an Employment Pass or similar work pass, so most American expats are not contributing to CPF in the first place. In a totalization country the question is usually which system a worker is exempted from; in Singapore the question is simply whether US self-employment tax applies at all, since there is no foreign system to coordinate with. Our guide to totalization agreements and self-employment tax abroad explains the certificate-of-coverage process where an agreement exists, useful context for what Singapore lacks.
How Are Singapore CPF and Retirement Accounts Taxed by the US?
Not automatically tax-deferred. The Central Provident Fund is Singapore's mandatory retirement and savings scheme for citizens and permanent residents, and while it is tax-favored under Singapore law, that status does not carry over to the US side of a CPF participant's return. Because there is no US-Singapore tax treaty, there is also no treaty provision to defer US tax on income accruing inside a CPF account or any other Singapore retirement vehicle.
The general US rule under IRC Sections 401(a) and 402(b) is that income growing inside a foreign retirement plan is taxed currently to a US person unless a treaty specifically defers it, and Singapore has no treaty to invoke. For the relatively small number of Americans, typically permanent residents, who hold CPF balances, that generally means CPF interest and investment growth needs evaluation for current US taxation each year rather than assumed deferral. Our foreign pension US tax treatment guide walks through the four questions that determine the answer for any foreign plan, treaty or no treaty: whether growth is taxed as it accrues, whether deferral applies, what has to be reported, and how distributions are taxed.
Are Singapore Investment Funds Taxed as PFICs?
Usually, yes. A Singapore-domiciled unit trust, mutual fund, or ETF, along with many other Asia-domiciled funds available through a Singapore brokerage, typically meets the definition of a passive foreign investment company under IRC Section 1297, with Sections 1291 and 1298 governing the tax treatment. That classification is a matter of US tax law and has nothing to do with how lightly the fund is taxed under Singapore's own system.
Once a fund is a PFIC, the default US tax treatment is punitive: absent a timely election, gains and certain distributions are spread over the holding period, taxed at the highest rate in effect for each of those years, and hit with an interest charge on top. Each PFIC generally requires its own Form 8621 filing, and the obligation applies even in a year no US tax is actually owed. This is one of the most expensive mistakes Americans in Singapore make, since local banks and robo-advisors routinely default clients into Singapore or broader Asia-domiciled funds that would be treated far more simply if the investor instead used US-domiciled brokerage accounts and funds.
What Else Do You Have to Report to the IRS?
Beyond the income tax return itself, Singapore financial accounts, CPF balances, and investments carry separate information-reporting obligations that apply whether or not any US tax is owed. These filings are enforced on their own terms, and penalties for missing them are typically far larger than any tax that would have been due.
The Singapore Reporting Stack
Reference- FBAR (FinCEN Form 114). Required when the combined balance of your Singapore bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and CPF account exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year. See our FBAR filing guide.
- Form 8938 (FATCA, IRC Section 6038D). A separate filing threshold, higher for Americans living abroad, that can require you to list the same Singapore accounts directly on your federal tax return. See our Form 8938 guide.
- Form 8621 (PFIC). Generally required for each Singapore or Asia-domiciled fund that qualifies as a passive foreign investment company. See our PFIC and Form 8621 guide.
Whether you even count as a US tax resident who owes a US filing at all, if your situation is complicated by extended time on a US visa before a Singapore posting or vice versa, is a separate question governed by the substantial presence test.
Bottom Line
Singapore's reputation as a low-tax, business-friendly base does not extend to the US side of an American expat's return, and the absence of a tax treaty or a totalization agreement means there is no coordinating document to lean on when questions arise. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit, applied deliberately and often in combination given Singapore's generally lower rates, have to do all the work a treaty would otherwise share, and a self-employed American cannot assume relief from US self-employment tax the way a worker in a totalization country could. CPF balances, Singapore investment funds, and foreign accounts each carry their own reporting rules on top of the income tax analysis, and getting any one wrong tends to cost more in penalties than the underlying tax ever would have.
Have questions about US expat taxes in Singapore? Contact TS CPA for a free consultation. We respond within the same day.
Official IRS and Government Sources
- IRS, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
- IRS, Foreign Tax Credit
- IRS, US Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
- IRS, United States Income Tax Treaties A to Z
- Social Security Administration, Totalization Agreements
- FinCEN, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
- IRS, About Form 8621
- IRC Section 911, Citizens or Residents Living Abroad