Reader Mailbag #2 : Cost Of Living Singapore 2008

Hiii sandeep ur blogs have been highly informative and are a great help. i wanted to know about tax filing in singapore and India. Are u required to file returns only in Singaore or also in India how do u manage to do it??? 

-Bijal

Thanks for the comments Bijal. It is a very good question. I believe most of the people who get relocated to the new country from India must be thinking about this. Well the simple answer to this question is that you need to file Income Tax in Singapore as long as you are eligible for it. For more information checkout the informative website : Singapore Income Tax Website. Regarding Income Tax in India. You need to file returns with Indian Income Tax authority and pay the required Income Tax if you have any income in India. This is also applicable for people who have NRI status. 

Now with India providing various ways to file returns electronically it is much easier to file IT returns in India. Please read more about this at : RBI on NRI Rules on Income Tax

Hi Sandeep, many thanks for this information. Really you are doing a great work.I am planning to move to Singapore in Dec 08 along with my spouse. I would like to know more about master room (facilities, area, access to this room, cooking facility etc). Whether cooking is allowed? Thanks 

-PU

I assume you are talking about renting only the Master Bedroom out of 3 Bed Room HDB Flat or a Condo. Well generally speaking this kind of arrangement is more suitable for bachelors. But there are couples also who share HDB/Condo flats like this. Generally it requires lot of understanding between 2 parties sharing the flat and also requries some flexibility from everybody who is sharing the flat. The Master Room is the one which is having attached bathroom and toilet. Three bed room HDB flat have 1 Master room with attached bathroom and toilet. The other toilet is either near the Kitchen or having access via the living room(this is mainly true for new HDB flats which are less than 6-7 years old). Whether cooking is allowed or not depends on the owner of the flat. Most of the times the kitchen is well equipped with Fridge, Microwave Oven, Rice Cooker and some utensils too if you are lucky!..Best of luck for your house search !!