Singapore Corppass Access: Delegating Filings Without Losing Control

Before letting a regional finance employee or external accountant file for a Singapore company, decide who may manage access, which services they need and who may submit transactions. These are different permissions. Singpass authenticates the individual; Corppass authorises that individual or a third party to act for the business. IRAS requires employees and third parties to be authorised through Corppass before accessing the business account on myTax Portal.1

For a Singapore company managed partly from Vietnam, this distinction prevents a common shortcut: granting broad administrative control simply because someone needs to prepare a return. Delegate through named accounts and service permissions, not shared Singpass passwords or approval codes.

Separate account management from filing authority

A Registered Officer, such as a director recorded with ACRA, can appoint Corppass Admins. The officer does not need a Corppass account merely to manage Admin applications through Singpass, but needs an appropriate Corppass account to transact for the entity.2

The Admin manages accounts, roles and digital-service access. Current Corppass guidance says Admins for Singapore-registered entities with a Unique Entity Number (UEN) must be Singapore NRIC or FIN holders. Each entity may appoint up to two Admins.3 An overseas shareholder's ownership does not itself establish eligibility for this role. Consider a second eligible Admin for continuity, with a documented internal approval process for access changes.

A Sub-Admin can help manage users, but the title does not automatically mean tightly restricted access. Corppass's detailed guide says Sub-Admins can, by default, manage and assign the entity's digital services. An Admin can restrict this through an Assignment Profile. A restricted Sub-Admin cannot manage services outside that profile or authorise and manage third-party entities.4

An ordinary User receives permissions to transact with assigned services. An Enquiry User can inspect the entity's Corppass setup and account transaction histories, but is not necessarily a read-only user in the underlying government services. The dedicated Corppass explanation says this account may also transact with government digital services.5 Check actual service assignments rather than relying on the account label.

These controls complement the responsibilities described in our Singapore corporate governance guide. They do not replace internal approval of the filing itself.

Assign the service, then its transaction role

Creating and activating an account does not complete a customised authorisation. IRAS's company guide separates selecting the entity's relevant digital services from assigning those services to staff or a tax agent. It also shows options for access to all services, so review that setting explicitly rather than treating it as harmless convenience.6

For example, “Corporate Tax (Filing and Applications)” and “Corporate Tax (Payment)” are separate IRAS services. GST filing and GST payment also have separate service entries.1 Someone preparing tax work should not receive payment-service access merely because both tasks sit within finance.

For relevant corporate tax assignments, distinguish Preparer from Approver. A Preparer prepares forms or applications for approval but cannot submit them to IRAS. An Approver can approve and submit, and can also prepare them.9 Use separate people where appropriate, but recognise that an Approver is not technically prevented from preparing their own submission.

IRAS's guide also provides effective authorisation dates and, for corporate tax, Year of Assessment ranges. A calendar expiry controls when access operates; a Year of Assessment range controls which assessment years are available. They are not interchangeable.6 A temporary assignment to resolve an older return should not silently become an indefinite mandate covering later years.

For Bizfile, ACRA warns that even a Corppass Admin may receive a “not authorised” error without access to ACRA Bizfile. Check “Assigned e-Services”, including customised access and default all-service access.8 Do not solve every login error by expanding the user's authority.

Give overseas staff a supported access route

A regional employee without a Singapore-issued identity document may need a Singpass Foreign user Account (SFA). Corppass instructs the entity's Admin to create and authorise the foreign user using their valid foreign identity details, country of issuance, full name and email address. The user then receives activation instructions.13 This is distinct from being eligible to administer a Singapore-registered entity.

IRAS states that an SFA is issued automatically by Corppass for users, including tax agents, handling business tax matters. They do not need to apply separately to IRAS for an SFA on that basis. Foreign individuals handling their own individual or property tax affairs have a different application route.7

Use the person's current identity document and an inbox they can access. Test the intended service before a filing becomes urgent. Corppass and SFA access is not a blanket entitlement to every government service, so confirm support for the particular transaction.1 7

Authorise an external firm without making it your administrator

IRAS's tax-agent FAQ directs clients to authorise their own employee as Sub-Admin rather than their tax agent. Its delegated tax-filing process instead requires the client to authorise the tax-agent firm through “Authorise Third Party Entities”. The firm then assigns the client's services to its own staff.9

For corporate tax, IRAS instructs the client to grant the firm both Preparer and Approver roles so that the firm can allocate those roles internally.6 9 This is an important limit on a proposed control: authorising the firm does not, by itself, ensure that a company director must press the final submission button. If management wants to review every return, agree a documented sign-off process before submission and retain the approval evidence.

Check the firm's UEN, required services, assessment years and effective dates against the engagement scope. IRAS says authorising employees or third parties to access the company's myTax Portal account is deemed to authorise them to handle and correspond with IRAS on its Corporate Income Tax (CIT) matters through other communication channels too.10 Treat access approval as a substantive mandate, not merely technical assistance.

A firm handling ACRA filings may also act as a corporate service provider (CSP). Its Bizfile access needs separate consideration. Our company secretary obligations guide provides context for that appointment; tax-agent access alone is not an access register for all outsourced work.

Offboard across the relevant systems

IRAS's company guide provides controls to suspend or terminate users, remove individual service permissions, remove a third-party entity, or remove selected services from that entity.6 Match the action to the change: reassignment within finance may need narrower permissions, while departure needs account termination.

ACRA separately allows authorised position holders with dashboard access to remove an appointed CSP through “My corporate service provider”. The CSP's status changes to inactive and it can no longer file for the entity.11 ACRA's client-list guidance says newly added clients must endorse the request before filing access is granted.12 Monitor subsequent requests rather than assuming removal permanently prevents any future appointment.

Use this short checklist when granting access and at each personnel or adviser change:

• Confirm the correct entity, named user or firm, and accountable internal owner.
• Record the account role separately from services, transaction roles, dates and assessment years.
• Check all-service access and Sub-Admin Assignment Profiles.
• Retain management sign-off and filing acknowledgements outside an individual's inbox.
• Remove obsolete permissions in Corppass and review CSP access in Bizfile separately.

Schedule periodic reviews as an internal control, not an assumed statutory Corppass deadline. The annual compliance calendar addresses filing obligations; access reviews address who remains able to fulfil them.

Focused questions

Can an overseas director be the Corppass Admin?

Not solely because they are a director or have an SFA. Current Corppass guidance requires an Admin for a Singapore-registered UEN entity to hold NRIC or FIN.3 Distinguish ownership, Registered Officer status and Admin eligibility.

Does removing the accountant's Corppass access also remove its Bizfile appointment?

Do not assume so. Review the tax-agent authorisations in Corppass and the appointed CSP's filing access in Bizfile as separate offboarding steps.6 11

References

• 1 IRAS: Corppass and digital services requiring authorisation
• 2 Corppass: What are the types of Corppass roles?
• 3 Corppass: What is a Corppass Admin?
• 4 Corppass: Manage Assignment Profile of Sub-Admins, October 2024
• 5 Corppass: What is a Corppass Enquiry User?
• 6 IRAS: Corppass Step-by-Step Guide for Companies, Corporate Tax
• 7 IRAS: Singpass Foreign user Account for Foreign Individuals
• 8 ACRA: Setting up Corppass access for Bizfile, 7 April 2026
• 9 IRAS: Frequently Asked Questions on Corppass for Tax Agents, 18 May 2022
• 10 IRAS: Companies and tax agents digital services
• 11 ACRA: Removing filing access for an appointed CSP, 6 April 2026
• 12 ACRA: Maintaining client lists for corporate service providers, 17 May 2026
• 13 Corppass: Foreign users and Singpass Foreign user Account registration