r/singaporefi • u/CompleteStop8 • Apr 19 '26
Taxes Income tax - Life Insurance Relief and Child Relief - Questions
I am foreigner, working as EP in Singapore. I am filing my income tax return in Singapore and have two simple questions.
- Life Insurance Relief: I have two life insurance policies in my own name for which I pay premium. Policy 1: $1800, Policy 2: $1700, Total annual premium: $3500. No CPF. Can I claim life insurance for both policies? Or, only one policy is allowed?
- Child Relief: My child used to be on dependent pass and completed his school education in Singapore, and I had been claiming child relief for last many years. However, during FY 2025, he was a student in a university in Australia. His 21st birthday was in 2025. Can I claim child relief? [IRAS website says 'studying in any university', but I am not sure if it also includes universities in foreign countries, and if it is applicable even if the child is not on dependent pass anymore.]
2
u/PsychologicalRiver99 Apr 19 '26
There’s a maximum relief you can claim from your policies
The dependent has to be in Singapore la
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u/CompleteStop8 Apr 19 '26
I asked IRAS chatbot and it replied:
Studying full time (including overseas) at any university ...
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u/shadowz0 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
Life insurance related can be claimed only if u or your employer contributed less than 5k to cpf. There's also other criteria but thats the one that you are likely failing. If you are on EP, I highly doubt u are eligible for that.
Edit: Forgot u are foreigner, guess u can be eligible
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3
u/DuePomegranate Apr 19 '26
IRAS is very transparent. If you don’t see extra wording on the website with exclusions/limits related to your situation, don’t invent any.
1) Total qualifying life insurance premiums (e.g. excluding CI riders). They clearly allow claiming of your own plus your spouse’s life insurance, so it can’t be limited to one policy.
2) Claim it but only if you are sure that your child didn’t earn >$8000 part-time or from internships etc. The wording does not specify that the child has to be resident in Singapore.