About 16,000 Grab private-hire drivers in Singapore will receive higher tax bills after incomplete income records were submitted to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).
The issue affected about 28,000 drivers who had opted into IRAS’ pre-filing income initiative for the Year of Assessment 2026. Their income was understated because some payments were missing from the information submitted by Grab.
IRAS told The Straits Times on 28 September that around 16,000 of the affected drivers will have to pay additional tax.
For most of them, the extra amount will be less than S$100. The exact increase will depend on factors including each driver’s taxable income and tax reliefs.
System Error Left Out Incentives and Tips
Grab said in a notice on its website that a system error caused certain payments to be omitted from the income records.
These included incentives, tips and other miscellaneous payments.
Grab informed IRAS about the incomplete records at the end of July.
The affected drivers had signed up for the pre-filing initiative, which allows eligible GrabCar drivers to have their Grab income information automatically included in their electronic tax returns. The initiative was introduced in 2018.
Grab’s own information on driver earnings states that drivers can earn money through fares, incentives and tips, with drivers keeping 100 per cent of tips received.
IRAS Is Revising Affected Tax Assessments
IRAS has since received corrected income records, and affected Notices of Assessment are being revised.
Drivers do not need to do anything before receiving their revised tax assessments.
Those paying their taxes through GIRO instalments will have their payment plans adjusted automatically.
Drivers who are not using GIRO instalments should instead pay the amount due by the deadline stated in their revised Notice of Assessment.
Grab has also advised affected drivers to compare the total income stated in their tax assessment with their 2025 annual partner statement to ensure that the figures match.
For tax purposes, IRAS classifies private-hire drivers as self-employed people, meaning their earnings are declared as trade income rather than employment income.
