Singapore: Financial Updates

Singapore: more freedom for investment funds, less anonymity for crypto assets

In the summer of 2026, Singapore announced two important directions of tax policy at once.

The first was the simplification of certain conditions for tax incentives for investment funds. The second was the introduction of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, which extends international automatic exchange of tax information to crypto assets.

At first glance, these are different developments. In fact, they demonstrate a single strategy: Singapore seeks to remain attractive to international capital, but not to opaque assets and structures.

What changed for investment funds

On 31 July 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore published updates regarding tax incentives for funds under Sections 13O, 13OA and 13U.

These regimes allow funds, subject to compliance with prescribed conditions, to exempt certain types of income derived from specified investments from taxation.

One of the main changes was the removal, for funds that are not single-family offices, of the requirement to maintain annually a minimum amount of assets under management specifically in designated types of investments.

Previously, a fund had to monitor not only the total amount of assets, but also what portion of them continuously fell within the prescribed category of permitted investments. A decline in portfolio value or a change in its composition could create a risk of failing to satisfy the conditions for the tax incentive.

The removal of this annual requirement reduces the administrative burden and gives funds greater flexibility in portfolio management. At the same time, this does not necessarily mean the abolition of all minimum fund size requirements: the initial and other conditions of a specific regime must be checked separately.

MAS also reviewed the conditions for funds managed by single family offices, that is, structures established to manage the wealth of one family.

More opportunities for investment in precious metals

Another change concerns physical investment precious metals—physical investment gold, silver, platinum and other relevant metals.

Previously, for such assets to be recognized as designated investments, a 5% portfolio limit applied. This limit has now been removed.

Accordingly, a fund may allocate a larger portion of its assets to physical precious metals without automatically losing the ability to apply the relevant tax regime.

This is particularly relevant for funds that use gold and other metals as a tool for diversification, inflation hedging or protection against geopolitical risks.

The updates also include clarifications regarding tokenized designated investments, joint management of a fund by several Singapore fund management companies, investment in operating companies related to the family of the fund owner, and certain reporting reliefs for foreign investors in Singapore funds in the form of limited partnerships.

The overall direction is clear: Singapore is making its fund regimes more commercially practical and adapting them to modern investment products.

CARF: crypto assets become part of international tax transparency

At the same time, Singapore is strengthening oversight of crypto asset transactions.

On 11 August 2026, rules implementing the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework into domestic law were adopted. They will enter into force on 1 January 2027.

CARF is an OECD-developed standard for the automatic exchange of tax information concerning crypto assets. In its logic, it is similar to the Common Reporting Standard, which is already applied to bank accounts and other financial assets.

The emergence of CARF is linked to the fact that a significant portion of crypto assets and transactions involving them was not covered by the traditional CRS. This created a gap: tax authorities could obtain information about an individual's foreign bank account, but did not always see their transactions through a crypto platform.

CARF gradually closes this gap.

What data crypto platforms will collect

Singapore crypto-asset service providers that fall within the scope of CARF will be required to conduct due diligence on their users.

In particular, the platform must establish:

• the user's identity;
• their tax residency;
• tax identification number;
• information on relevant crypto asset transactions.

Data on users and their transactions will be submitted to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. Thereafter, IRAS will be able to exchange information with the tax authorities of the relevant jurisdictions with which Singapore has an effective CARF exchange mechanism.

For example, if a tax resident of another country uses a Singapore crypto platform, information about that person and their transactions may potentially be transmitted to the tax authority of their country of residence.

The first reporting period will cover the 2027 calendar year. Crypto providers will be required to submit the relevant information to IRAS by 31 May 2028, and the first international exchange is scheduled for September 2028.

Does CARF mean a new tax on cryptocurrency

No. CARF itself does not establish a new tax rate and does not mean that every transfer of crypto assets is automatically taxable.

Its function is reporting and information exchange.

The question of whether a tax arises will be determined under the law of the user's country of tax residence. The nature of the transaction, the existence of profit, the person's status and local rules for taxing crypto assets will be relevant.

However, it will become significantly easier for tax authorities to match declared income with data received from crypto platforms.

What this means for international business and investors

The two reforms show how competition among international financial centres is changing.

Singapore is not abandoning tax incentives. On the contrary, it is making fund conditions more flexible, recognizing new types of assets and reducing unnecessary compliance burdens.

At the same time, the state clearly distinguishes tax efficiency from tax opacity.

For funds, this means greater freedom in portfolio construction, while maintaining requirements for proper governance, structure and reporting.

For crypto asset holders, it means the need to determine their tax residency in advance, keep records of asset acquisition and disposal, separate corporate and personal transactions, and verify that the relevant income is properly declared.

The main trend can be stated simply: international financial centres continue to compete for capital, but there are fewer and fewer opportunities to keep it outside the system of tax transparency.

This material is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice.