Before You Leave the US for Singapore: What FEIE Doesn't Cover and What You Need to Do

Singapore has no income tax on most income. The US still taxes you on all of it. Here is the checklist organized by what to do before you leave, not after you arrive.

Jason took the Singapore role because the effective tax rate looked dramatically lower than California. He wasn't wrong about Singapore. He was wrong about the US. US citizens and green card holders pay US federal tax on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Singapore's tax environment reduces your Singapore tax bill. It doesn't reduce your US one.

What makes Singapore distinct from other US expat destinations: there is no US-Singapore income tax treaty. The UK treaty gives you mechanisms for resolving double taxation. The India treaty governs specific income types. With Singapore, you're operating entirely on US domestic law — the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, the Foreign Tax Credit where applicable, and that's largely it. No treaty backstop.

This checklist covers the financial decisions that have real deadlines. The immigration and logistics checklist is not this.

Before You Accept the Offer

Calculate your unvested RSU sourcing exposure

If you have unvested RSUs from a US employer, the portion vesting after you arrive in Singapore will be split between US-sourced income and Singapore-sourced income based on your workday ratio during the vesting period. If you granted the RSUs two years ago and vest over four years, the first two years of US workdays already sit in the numerator. That US-sourced percentage may be 60-80% even after you've been in Singapore for a full year.

The US taxes its portion at ordinary income rates. Singapore imposes no tax on employment income above approximately SGD 320K. You have no Singapore Foreign Tax Credit to offset the US liability on that portion. Run the calculation before you accept. The RSU tail may be larger than the salary-tax savings.

Confirm your employment structure

Will you be on a US payroll deployed to Singapore, or transferred to a Singapore entity? The answer determines your CPF obligation, your FICA obligation, and whether your 401K contributions can continue. Get this in writing before you sign.

Before You Leave the US

Sell vested shares before departure (non-citizens)

If you're not a US citizen (H-1B, L-1, or green card holder), selling vested shares before you become a non-resident alien avoids 30% US withholding on the proceeds. Once you're a non-resident alien, the IRS withholds 30% on US securities sale proceeds. Capital gains rates (15% or 20%) apply while you're still a resident. The difference can be significant on a concentrated position.

US citizens: the 30% withholding doesn't apply to you. Sell when it makes sense from a tax basis standpoint, not on a departure deadline.

Do not close your US brokerage account

Keep it. Some US brokerages will ask you to update your address and may restrict certain transactions once you have a Singapore address on file. Consider flagging your departure with your brokerage before you leave and confirming you can maintain the account. Do not move your holdings to a Singapore brokerage. Singapore-domiciled ETFs and funds are PFICs for US persons — the same punitive tax treatment that affects NRIs with Indian mutual funds.

401K decision

If you remain on a US payroll, 401K contributions may continue. If you transfer to a Singapore entity, contributions typically stop. Either way, do not close or cash out the 401K. Leave it in the US and let it grow tax-deferred. You'll make distribution decisions later, not on departure day.

State tax residency

If you're departing from a high-tax state like California, New York, or New Jersey, confirm your state tax residency ends on departure. California in particular is aggressive about asserting residency for state income tax purposes even after physical departure. Document your departure date, surrender your California driver's license if possible, and close any California-specific ties you can identify before leaving.

First 90 Days in Singapore

Employment Pass and CPF registration

If you're on a Singapore entity payroll, your employer registers you for CPF (Central Provident Fund) contributions. Employee contribution: 20% of ordinary wages. Employer contribution: 17%. These come from after-tax income for US persons — CPF is not recognized by the IRS as a tax-deferred account, so contributions don't reduce your US taxable income.

Elect the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

You can elect FEIE using either the bona fide residence test (you're a bona fide resident of Singapore for the full tax year) or the physical presence test (you're physically present outside the US for 330 days in any 12-month period). The bona fide residence test is cleaner for a genuine relocation. The FEIE shelters up to $132,900 of your Singapore salary from US federal tax.

The FEIE does not shelter RSU income sourced to the US, bonus income where the bonus was earned in the US, or income from a US-based business. Apply it to what it actually covers — don't assume it covers your full compensation package.

Open a Singapore bank account (for salary)

DBS, OCBC, and UOB are the main Singapore banks. Once your salary is flowing into a Singapore account, that account triggers FBAR reporting if the balance exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year. This is a reporting obligation, not a tax. File FinCEN 114 annually regardless of how much Singapore tax you do or don't pay.

Ongoing Obligations

Form 1040: You file every year as long as you're a US citizen or hold a green card. Americans abroad get an automatic extension to June 15 for the prior year return. If you owe money, estimated quarterly payments may be required to avoid penalties.

Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit): You can claim a credit for Singapore income tax you actually paid. Given Singapore's rates, the credit may not fully cover your US liability on income above the FEIE cap — because you're paying a lower Singapore rate on that excess than you owe to the US. On the other hand, you're not being taxed twice on the same income; you're simply in a situation where one jurisdiction taxes more than the other and the credit only goes one way.

FATCA (Form 8938): If your foreign financial assets exceed $200,000 at the end of the year (or $300,000 at any point during the year) while living abroad, you file Form 8938. The threshold is higher for overseas filers than for US-based filers. Singapore accounts, Singapore property, and other Singapore-based financial assets count toward the threshold.

RSU vests: After each vest, review what your employer withheld, compare it to the sourcing allocation (your US workdays / total workdays since grant), and confirm the US-reported income is correct. Reconcile annually before you file. Employer payroll errors in cross-border RSU reporting are common.

The Decision That Matters Most

The most consequential financial decision for a US person moving to Singapore with unvested equity is timing: which RSUs to sell before leaving, and how to structure the equity refresh negotiation with your employer.

Vested shares sitting in your account can be sold as a US resident at capital gains rates before departure. That's a clean event. Unvested shares continue to vest in Singapore and generate US ordinary income on the US-sourced portion at your marginal rate. If your employer offers a new grant as part of the relocation, the grant date resets the vesting period clock — a new grant made in Singapore has a lower US-sourced percentage from the start.

Ask your equity team and your US CPA to model the combined tax picture for the first two vesting years in Singapore before you finalize the compensation negotiation. The numbers are knowable in advance. Most people don't ask for them until the W-2 arrives.