NOR Scheme (Not Ordinarily Resident): Why This Singapore Tax Concession No Longer Applies to New Arrivals
The Not Ordinarily Resident, or NOR, scheme was a Singapore tax concession that let qualifying relocating professionals time-apportion their employment income and gain other tax benefits for up to five years, but it closed to new applicants after Budget 2019, with the last NOR status valid only through Year of Assessment 2024.
Not financial advice. All figures for educational reference only. Data as at September 2026.
Last updated: September 2026
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
What Is NOR Scheme?
How Does It Work in Singapore?
NOR Scheme Example
Why This Still Matters Even Though the Scheme Is Closed
Risks and Limitations (Historical)
NOR Scheme vs Tax Residency vs Foreign-Sourced Income Exemption vs DTA Relief
The Bottom Line
Frequently Asked Questions
Key Takeaways
- The NOR scheme is discontinued for new applicants; the last NOR status was granted for Year of Assessment 2020 and remained valid through YA2024.
- As of 2026, no individual can newly qualify for NOR status, and any prior award has already expired at the end of its five-year window.
- Where it applied, the scheme let a qualifying individual pay tax only on the portion of employment income corresponding to days spent working in Singapore, provided at least 90 days were spent overseas for business.
- A 10% floor applied: even with time apportionment, tax could not fall below 10% of total employment income.
- Qualifying individuals also needed a minimum Singapore employment income of S$160,000 to access the time apportionment benefit.
What Is NOR Scheme?
The NOR scheme was introduced to make Singapore more attractive to senior professionals and executives who travelled extensively for work but were based in Singapore, by preventing them from being taxed on income they earned while physically working outside the country. It targeted people who became Singapore tax residents after not being tax resident here for the three years immediately before.
Budget 2019 announced that the scheme would not be renewed. The last cohort to receive NOR status did so for Year of Assessment 2020, and each award was valid for five consecutive years, meaning the final possible year any taxpayer could still claim NOR benefits was Year of Assessment 2024. From Year of Assessment 2025 onward, the scheme no longer applies to anyone, regardless of when they first became a Singapore tax resident.
This glossary entry exists for historical and reference purposes, most commonly for individuals reviewing old tax filings from their NOR years, or for HR and tax professionals explaining to a new hire why the concession their predecessor once enjoyed is no longer on offer.
It’s worth distinguishing NOR from ordinary tax residency, since the two get conflated. Tax residency is a broad, recurring annual test based on days spent in Singapore, and it determines whether you’re taxed on the resident progressive scale at all. NOR was a narrower, time-limited concession layered on top of residency, available only to a specific subset of relocating professionals who met additional conditions, and it never affected whether you were considered a tax resident in the first place.
How Does It Work in Singapore?
Where an award was still valid, the mechanics worked as follows. A qualifying NOR taxpayer who spent at least 90 days outside Singapore for business reasons in the preceding calendar year, and earned at least S$160,000 in Singapore employment income, could apply time apportionment: the portion of income matching the days spent overseas was excluded from Singapore tax, while the rest was taxed normally.
A floor applied regardless of how many days were spent abroad: tax on the apportioned income could never fall below 10% of total employment income. NOR status also exempted employer contributions to certain overseas pension or provident funds from tax, up to specified limits, which was the second major benefit alongside time apportionment.
| Condition | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Prior tax residency status | Not a Singapore tax resident for the 3 years before qualifying |
| Days overseas for business | Minimum 90 days in the relevant calendar year |
| Minimum Singapore employment income | S$160,000 |
| Minimum effective tax rate | 10% of total employment income, regardless of apportionment |
| Duration of each award | 5 consecutive years of assessment from the year first granted |
| New applications accepted after | Closed after YA2020; none accepted since |
NOR Scheme Example
A relocating regional executive who first qualified for NOR status in YA2020, when the scheme was still open, earned S$400,000 in Singapore employment income in a year where they spent 120 days outside Singapore on business. Time apportionment would have excluded roughly a third of that income (120 out of a working-year base) from Singapore tax, provided the resulting tax was not less than 10% of the S$400,000, or S$40,000.
That same executive’s NOR benefit expired at the end of YA2024. From YA2025, all of their Singapore employment income is taxed under ordinary resident rules, with no apportionment for days spent overseas, regardless of how much business travel the role still requires.
Why This Still Matters Even Though the Scheme Is Closed
- It explains historical Notices of Assessment. Anyone reviewing their own or a predecessor’s tax filings from 2020 to 2024 will encounter NOR-related line items that no longer apply today.
- It clarifies why a new expat hire’s offer differs from an older colleague’s. HR teams structuring compensation for internationally mobile roles need to know this benefit is simply not available for anyone joining now.
- It sets accurate expectations during salary negotiations. A candidate who assumes NOR-style tax treatment based on outdated information may misjudge their actual take-home pay.
- It highlights what replaced it, which is nothing equivalent. Singapore has not introduced a direct successor scheme, so mobile executives are taxed under standard resident rules going forward.
Risks and Limitations (Historical)
- The scheme never applied to full income exclusion. Even at its most generous, the 10% floor meant a meaningful minimum tax always applied, and the benefit shrank the less time was spent overseas.
- Eligibility depended on a high income threshold. The S$160,000 minimum meant only senior, well-compensated roles could access the time apportionment benefit even while the scheme was open.
- Employers had documentation obligations. Tracking exact days spent outside Singapore for legitimate business reasons required careful record-keeping to withstand IRAS scrutiny.
- The five-year window created a cliff-edge. Individuals whose NOR status expired mid-career saw a step-change in their effective tax rate with no transitional relief.
NOR Scheme vs Tax Residency vs Foreign-Sourced Income Exemption vs DTA Relief
NOR was one of several mechanisms that shaped how internationally mobile income was taxed in Singapore, each working differently.
| Mechanism | What It Addressed | Current Status |
|---|---|---|
| NOR Scheme | Time apportionment of Singapore employment income for overseas work days | Closed, fully expired after YA2024 |
| Tax Residency | Determines whether you’re taxed on resident (progressive) or non-resident (flat) rates | Ongoing, applies to everyone annually |
| Foreign-Sourced Income Exemption | Exempts certain foreign income received in Singapore from tax | Ongoing, conditions apply mainly to companies |
| DTA Relief | Prevents double taxation on cross-border income via treaty | Ongoing, applies where a treaty exists |
The Bottom Line
For anyone relocating to Singapore today, the NOR scheme is a closed chapter, not a planning option. Understanding it mainly helps make sense of historical tax filings and explains why current expat compensation packages are structured differently than they were a decade ago.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still apply for NOR status in 2026?
No. The scheme closed to new applicants after Budget 2019, and the last status granted, for YA2020, expired at the end of YA2024. There is no application process available today.
What happens to someone whose NOR status just expired?
From the first Year of Assessment after their five-year NOR window ends, all of their Singapore employment income is taxed under standard resident rules, with no time apportionment for overseas work days.
Was NOR the same as tax residency?
No. Tax residency determines whether you’re taxed as a resident at all. NOR was an additional concession available only to certain qualifying residents, on top of standard resident tax treatment.
Is there a replacement scheme for internationally mobile employees?
Singapore has not introduced a direct successor to NOR. Mobile employees today are taxed under ordinary resident or non-resident rules depending on their tax residency status.
Did NOR reduce CPF contributions?
No, NOR was a tax concession under the Income Tax Act and had no effect on CPF contribution obligations, which are governed separately by the CPF Act.
Why did Singapore discontinue the NOR scheme?
The government did not publish a single stated reason in the Budget 2019 announcement beyond a broader periodic review of tax concessions, consistent with how several other time-limited schemes have been allowed to lapse over the years.
Related Terms
- Tax Residency Singapore
- Foreign-Sourced Income Exemption Singapore
- Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) Singapore
- IR8A Form Singapore
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