Singapore departure checklist for HR teams

This checklist is for HR and global mobility teams handling an employee’s exit from Singapore, whether an assignment is ending or the employee is transferring abroad, resigning or being let go. It covers what IRAS (the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore), MOM (the Ministry of Manpower) and the CPF (Central Provident Fund) Board require, then the practical items the employee may raise. The employee’s own plan is the countdown from three months out.

File the IR21 and withhold final pay

IRAS requires tax clearance whenever an employee who isn’t a Singapore citizen stops working for you, starts an overseas posting or leaves Singapore for more than three months. File Form IR21 at least one month before the last day, and withhold all money due to the employee from the date you know they’re leaving. The IR21 guide covers the employee’s side. For HR, the points to get right:

The cessation date is the official last day of service, not the pass cancellation date or the day the employee starts using up leave, according to IRAS’s explanatory notes for Form IR21.
Withhold everything due, including overtime, leave pay, allowances, reimbursements, gratuities and lump sums. You can’t instead deduct part of each month’s salary to build up a fund. If you can’t withhold, give the reason on the form, or you may be liable for the employee’s tax.
Short notice needs a reason. If you can’t file a month ahead, for example after an immediate resignation, say why on the IR21. IRAS generally allows a 10-day grace period. Without a valid reason, late or non-filing can bring a composition amount or court fine of up to S$5,000 per offence.
Some leavers are exempt, such as Singapore permanent residents (SPRs) who aren’t leaving Singapore permanently (keep their signed Letter of Undertaking on file) and transfers to another Singapore company because of a merger, takeover, or restructuring or posting within the group (tell IRAS by myTax Mail, attaching its Waiver of Tax Clearance template). Report their income on Form IR8A or through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) by 1 March.
E-file on myTax Portal, which needs Corppass authorisation. IRAS typically processes e-filed forms within 7 working days, against 21 days on paper.
Act on the Clearance Directive. Pay a Directive to Pay Tax within 10 days of its date (GIRO can’t be used), or release the money when you get a Notification to Release Monies. A later payment, such as a bonus, needs an Additional or Amended IR21 before you release it.

Cancel the work pass within a week

MOM requires you to cancel an Employment Pass (EP) or S Pass within one week after the employee’s last day of notice, through EP eService on the myMOM Portal. You can submit the request up to 14 days ahead; otherwise cancellation is immediate. If the employee has already left Singapore permanently, cancel within one week of their departure.

Before cancelling, MOM expects you to have given the employee reasonable notice of their repatriation, sought tax clearance, and settled outstanding employment issues such as salary. MOM also says employers can’t refuse to cancel a pass as a threat or retaliation in a dispute.

Once the pass is cancelled, the employee can’t work, even while waiting to leave. If they’re staying on for a while, request a Short-Term Visit Pass (STVP) so they keep a valid stay: up to 90 days for a former EP holder and up to 30 days for a former S Pass holder. S Pass levy stops one day before cancellation.

Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) holders cancel their own pass, but you still have to seek tax clearance. Work Permit holders follow a separate process, with a Special Pass instead of an STVP and a one-way ticket dated within 14 days of cancellation.

What happens to the family’s passes?

When you cancel an EP or S Pass, every pass issued to the employee’s family, such as a Dependant’s Pass (DP) or Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP), is cancelled with it, and MOM says those passes can’t be reinstated. If the family is staying on after the employee’s last day, check their options with MOM before you cancel.

If family members leave first, cancel their DPs or LTVPs separately. You can submit the request up to 14 days ahead, and must cancel within one week if they’ve left Singapore permanently. For a family member still in Singapore, you can request an STVP (see the table below). Cancelling a DP or LTVP also cancels any Letter of Consent or Work Permit linked to it.

Who pays for the flight home?

You do, unless the employee agrees otherwise. MOM’s position is that employers bear the full cost of employing foreign staff, including repatriation: an air ticket with check-in luggage, any pre-departure tests, and connecting transport to the international port of entry in the employee’s home country or the region nearest their hometown.

The employee’s consent to pay their own way must say so explicitly, and they must sign it. MOM says a clause in a signed employment contract is enough, but a clause in an HR policy they haven’t signed may not be. MOM’s DP and LTVP pages apply the same rule to family members.

Pass	When to cancel	Valid stay after cancelling	Flight home
Employment Pass	Within 1 week after the last day of notice	STVP of up to 90 days	Employer, unless agreed in writing
S Pass	Within 1 week after the last day of notice	STVP of up to 30 days	Employer, unless agreed in writing
Dependant’s Pass	When the holder plans to leave (it’s also cancelled automatically with the main pass)	STVP of up to 90 days when you cancel the DP itself	Employer, unless agreed in writing
Long-Term Visit Pass	When the holder plans to leave (it’s also cancelled automatically with the main pass)	STVP of up to 30 days when you cancel the LTVP itself	Employer, unless agreed in writing

Final salary and CPF for citizens and PRs

For Singapore citizens and SPRs, CPF contributions continue as normal to the end: CPF Board says they’re due on the last day of the calendar month, and it takes enforcement action against employers who haven’t paid by the 14th of the following month. For a final pay run:

Payment in lieu of leave attracts CPF, according to CPF Board’s list of payments.
Compensation in lieu of notice, retrenchment pay, severance pay and retirement gratuities don’t, because they’re termination benefits. For tax, though, IRAS treats salary in lieu of notice as taxable.
Recalculate the Additional Wage (AW) ceiling in the last month of employment, once the year’s Ordinary Wages are known, and pay any shortfall with that month’s contributions.
A bonus paid after the employee has left attracts CPF only if they were a citizen or SPR on both their last day of employment and the date it’s payable. Contribute it for the month it’s payable, unless it was actually due in their last month or earlier, in which case use that month. CPF Board charges interest on late payments.

SPRs leaving Singapore permanently need an IR21, so withhold their final pay too. If you didn’t know about an SPR’s decision to leave for good when they stopped working for you, IRAS says you won’t be held liable for their tax balance.

Helping with the lease, the shipment and the flat

The employee may also ask you for help with these:

The diplomatic clause. If the employee rents, their tenancy agreement may have a diplomatic clause. In the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) tenancy agreement template, it lets the tenant end the lease early if the named person is transferred out of Singapore permanently, stops being employed or is ordered to leave, with notice served together with documentary evidence of the transfer or cessation of employment. A letter from you can provide that. Clauses vary, so ask to see the employee’s and write the letter to match; the diplomatic clause guide covers the tenant’s side.
The international shipment. Relocado doesn’t ship anything, but if your company doesn’t already use a relocation provider, the employee can compare Singapore international movers and relocation companies in the Relocado directory.
Clearing what isn’t shipped. CEA’s template end-of-tenancy checklist expects the tenant’s belongings to be removed at handover, and lets the landlord dispose of anything left behind. For anything not going in the shipment, you can point the employee to Junk to Clear, the team behind Relocado, which has cleared homes since 2009 and takes anything from single items to whole flats, seven days a week.
The move-out clean. The same checklist expects the premises to be thoroughly cleaned, including cabinets, wardrobes, appliances, windows, lighting, furniture and fixtures. HomeToClean, run by the same team as Relocado, matches tenants with vetted cleaning vendors for a move-out clean.
Tax refunds. IRAS advises foreigners leaving Singapore to keep a Singapore-dollar account open with PayNow linked to their FIN (foreign identification number), set up at least 30 days before departure, if they want a refund before they go.

The employee’s own tenancy agreement, not CEA’s template, sets what they must do at handover, so they should check it.

The HR countdown

Only some of these dates are legal deadlines; the first row is planning time.

When	What to do	Source
8 weeks or more before the last day, or as soon as the exit is confirmed	Confirm the official last day. Check whether an IR21 is needed and start withholding. Get a Letter of Undertaking from an SPR who isn’t leaving permanently. Agree in writing who pays for the flight. Ask about family passes, the lease and the shipment.	IRAS, MOM
At least 1 month before the last day	File Form IR21	IRAS
Up to 14 days before the cancellation date	Submit an advance cancellation request if you want the pass to end on a set date	MOM
Last day of service	Run final pay, withholding it for IR21 cases. For citizens and SPRs, recalculate the AW ceiling; the last month’s CPF is due by the end of that month.	IRAS, CPF Board
Within 1 week after the last day of notice	Buy the air ticket unless the employee has agreed in writing to pay. Cancel the pass, which cancels family passes too, and request an STVP if the employee is staying on.	MOM
After the last day	Pay a Directive to Pay Tax within 10 days, or release money on a Notification to Release Monies. File an Additional IR21 before paying a later bonus, and pay CPF on it for citizens and SPRs where due.	IRAS, CPF Board

Arranging the clear-out or clean for a departing employee?

Tell us what you need and the team behind Junk to Clear will get you a quote.

Questions people ask

When must an employer cancel an Employment Pass?

Within one week after the employee's last day of notice, through EP eService on the myMOM Portal. You can submit the request up to 14 days in advance. If the employee has already left Singapore permanently, cancel within one week of their departure.

Does cancelling an Employment Pass cancel the family's Dependant's Passes?

Yes. MOM cancels all passes issued to family members when the main pass is cancelled, and they can't be reinstated. If the family is staying on after the employee's last day, check their options with MOM before you cancel.

Does the employer have to pay for an EP holder's flight home?

Yes, unless the employee consents to pay. MOM says the consent must explicitly state that they'll pay the repatriation costs and must be signed. A clause in a signed employment contract is enough; one in an unsigned HR policy may not be.

How long can an employee stay after their pass is cancelled?

You can request a Short-Term Visit Pass when you cancel: up to 90 days for a former Employment Pass holder and up to 30 days for a former S Pass holder. The employee can't work during that time.

Is CPF payable on a bonus paid after a PR employee has left?

Yes, if they were a Singapore citizen or PR on both their last day of employment and the date the bonus is payable. It's contributed for the month the bonus is payable, unless it was actually due in their last month of employment or earlier.

Sources

Rules change. We check each guide against these official pages, last on 28 September 2026. If a source says something different from this guide, the source is right. Please tell us athello@relocado.asia.

Relocado is run by the team behind Junk to Clear, HomeToMoved and HomeToClean. Where this guide links to one of them, it’s because the step calls for that service, and we say so in the sentence. Enquiries sent through the form go to the same team. How Relocado works

The Singapore departure checklist for HR teams