Singapore’s financial regulator is in active discussions with investment firms about cutting taxes on hedge funds and asset managers, a move that could reshape the competitive landscape for institutional capital in Asia, including the growing cohort of crypto-native funds setting up shop in the city-state.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is reportedly negotiating measures that would expand eligibility for carried-interest treatment at a 0% tax rate and reduce rates from the current 10% under existing incentive schemes.
What’s on the table
The proposed changes center on two levers. First, broadening which investment profits qualify as carried interest, the performance-based compensation that fund managers earn, and taxing those at zero percent. Second, lowering the rates under Singapore’s existing special incentive programs from their current 10% threshold.
These discussions don’t exist in a vacuum. Singapore’s Budget 2026 already introduced a 40% corporate income tax rebate and committed S$1.5 billion to the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP), which is designed to boost liquidity in local markets. The hedge fund tax talks represent another front in the same campaign.
