4.—(1) The ISC, its property and its assets shall have immunity from suit and legal process except to the extent that the ISC expressly waives its immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract.
(2) The ISC shall have the like inviolability of its official archives and premises occupied as offices as is accorded in respect of the official archives and premises of an envoy of a foreign sovereign Power accredited to the Republic of Singapore, subject to the condition that the ISC shall not permit its premises occupied as offices to be used as a refuge for preventing arrest under the laws of Singapore or in any other manner incompatible with the purposes of the ISC.
(3) The ISC shall have the like exemption or relief from the following taxes and rates as may be accorded to a foreign sovereign Power:
(a)
property tax in respect of the premises of the ISC;
(b)
stamp duty in respect of any lease agreement entered into by the ISC for its premises;
(c)
subject to sub-paragraph (5), goods and services tax in respect of goods and services consumed in Singapore by the ISC for its official use;
(d)
income tax in respect of any income derived from Singapore by the ISC;
(e)
all vehicle taxes (including fee for a certificate of entitlement and additional registration fee) in respect of a motor vehicle intended for the official use of the ISC; and
(f)
taxes in respect of utilities and telephone charges.
(4) Where the ISC has enjoyed the exemption or relief referred to in sub-paragraph (3)(e) in respect of any motor vehicle, it shall not enjoy any such exemption or relief in respect of any other motor vehicle within 3 years from the date on which it became the registered owner of the first-mentioned vehicle under the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276).
(5) The ISC shall be exempted from —
(a)
customs and excise duties and goods and services tax in respect of goods directly imported by the ISC for its official use in Singapore, subject to the condition that the ISC shall not transfer the goods to any person within Singapore except in accordance with terms and conditions agreed upon by the ISC and the Government and in accordance with the laws of Singapore; and
(b)
prohibitions and restrictions on importation or exportation in the case of goods directly imported or exported by the ISC for its official use and in the case of any publication of the ISC directly imported or exported by it.
(6) In this paragraph —
“income” includes incidental interest but does not include dividend income;
“premises” means any building or any part thereof, irrespective of ownership, occupied as offices by the ISC or otherwise used for the purposes of the ISC.