Meanings
plural letters of composition
- SingaporeOfficial notice of a composition fee (a fine).
[…] about 300 foreign companies did not file their tax returns with IRAS. Letters of composition were issued to these companies.
2013, OECD, Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information Tax Purposes Peer Reviews: Singapore 2013, →ISBN, page 322 more examples
Recently I received a letter of composition of $20 from the Car Parks Division, Urban Redevelopment Authority, for parking my broken down car in Keong Siak Road where it joins Sago Street and Sago Lane.
1978 May 27, “Parking Victim”, “Need for ‘no parking’ signs”, in The Straits Times, page 17I have been away from Singapore for more than 15 years, and imagine my surprise on receiving a scanned copy of a "failure to file return" […] This the^([sic]) the first letter from the IRAS after more than 15 years and it is a letter of composition and penalty - for Pay and Pay?
2008 January 2, Soojenn, “Singapore - A Police State”, in Singapore in General (blog)
Origin
From an obsolete sense of composition, “payment to settle an obligation”: see composition fee.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
letter of composition. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/letter%20of%20composition
“letter of composition.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/letter%20of%20composition. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “letter of composition,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/letter%20of%20composition.
Source: letter of composition on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.