How to Claim Equipment in Singapore (2026 Guide)

Quick answer

Business equipment in Singapore is relieved through capital allowances. Computers, prescribed automation equipment, and low-value assets up to S$5,000 each are written off 100% in one year, with the low-value route capped at S$30,000 per Year of Assessment. All other plant and machinery can be written off over three years by election, or over its working life. Disposals produce balancing charges or allowances. GST is claimable as input tax, except on motor cars.

Is equipment tax deductible in Singapore?

Equipment is capital expenditure, so it is not deductible under section 14. It is relieved through capital allowances on plant and machinery under sections 19 and 19A of the Income Tax Act, and the choice of method decides how fast.

Section 19A gives a 100% write-off in one year for three categories: computers, prescribed automation equipment, and low-value assets. IRAS names computers, laptops, printers, and computer software as commonly claimed automation equipment. A low-value asset is one costing no more than S$5,000, and the total written off under the low-value route cannot exceed S$30,000 per Year of Assessment. Section 19A also offers a three-year write-off for any plant or machinery: one third of the cost in each of three consecutive Years of Assessment, regardless of how long the asset will actually last.

Section 19 is the default working-life method: a 20% initial allowance in the first Year of Assessment, with the balance spread as annual allowances over a prescribed life of 6, 12, or 16 years from the Sixth Schedule. It suits a business that wants to defer allowances, although unabsorbed allowances can be carried forward anyway, so the three-year election is the usual choice for machinery, fit-out equipment, and vehicles that qualify.

Two carve-outs matter. Motor cars registered with S, Q, or RU plates earn no capital allowances at all, however business-focused the use; only commercial vehicles and a few licensed categories qualify, as the Singapore vehicle page explains. And renovation and refurbishment of premises is not plant; it has its own section 14N deduction over three years with a separate cap.

Disposals close the loop. Sale proceeds above the tax written down value produce a balancing charge, taxable up to the allowances previously claimed; proceeds below it produce a balancing allowance.

How much can you claim?

Worked example: a Singapore precision engineering company buys a S$180,000 CNC milling machine, S$12,000 of workstations and servers, and S$4,200 of hand-held measuring equipment in its 2026 financial year. The workstations and servers are computers and automation equipment, written off 100% in Year of Assessment 2027: S$12,000. The measuring equipment is a low-value asset, written off in full: S$4,200. The milling machine goes on the three-year write-off: S$60,000 a year for three years. Year of Assessment 2027 allowances total S$76,200, worth S$12,954 at the 17% corporate rate before partial exemption, and 9% input tax of S$17,658 is claimed on the full S$196,200 of purchases.

Sole proprietors exclude the private-use share. Equipment bought on hire purchase earns allowances on the capital element of instalments paid in the year.

GST on equipment

A GST-registered business claims the 9% input tax on equipment used for making taxable supplies, with a full tax invoice for amounts of S$1,000 or more. Motor cars and club subscription fees are blocked from input tax recovery regardless of use. Imported equipment attracts import GST at the border, claimable once paid, unless the business is approved under a scheme such as the Major Exporter Scheme. Local supplies of prescribed goods over S$10,000, which include certain electronics, fall under customer accounting. The Singapore GST guide covers each rule and the GST calculator handles the arithmetic.

Record-keeping requirements

Maintain a fixed asset register listing each asset, supplier, invoice date, cost, the allowance method elected, allowances claimed by Year of Assessment, the running low-value cap total, and disposal proceeds. The register produces the balancing charge or allowance on sale. Keep invoices and the register for five years from the relevant Year of Assessment, which for a three-year write-off or a working-life asset means well beyond the purchase date. The Singapore record-keeping guide covers electronic storage.

How to claim, step by step

1. Confirm the item is plant and machinery, not renovation, and not an S-plate car.
2. Allocate computers and automation equipment to the one-year write-off and items of S$5,000 or less to the low-value route until the S$30,000 cap is reached.
3. Elect the three-year write-off for other machinery in the tax computation, or use the working-life schedule to defer.
4. Enter the allowances in Form C-S or Form C and carry forward any unabsorbed amount.
5. Claim input tax on the GST return with a full tax invoice for S$1,000 or more.
6. On disposal, compute the balancing charge or allowance from the register.

Common mistakes

• Claiming capital allowances on an S-plate car.
• Treating office renovation as plant instead of claiming under section 14N.
• Exceeding the S$30,000 low-value cap in one Year of Assessment.
• Forgetting the balancing charge when fully written-off equipment is sold.
• Claiming input tax on equipment of S$1,000 or more with only a simplified tax invoice.

Software that helps

• Dext captures equipment invoices on arrival so cost and date are evidenced before the ledger entry.
• ExpenseFlow reads equipment invoices with frontier vision AI, codes each line to an expense or fixed asset account using the S$5,000 low-value asset limit, explains the call under the line, lowers its confidence so a reviewer decides when the invoice does not settle it, flags invoices of S$1,000 or more that lack full tax invoice details, and syncs the approved bill to Xero or QuickBooks with the document attached.
• Xero and QuickBooks both run fixed asset registers that track the allowance method and compute disposal adjustments.

FAQ

See the answered questions above for one-year write-offs, the three-year election, working life, disposals, and GST.