letter of composition

English

Etymology

From an obsolete sense of composition, “payment to settle an obligation”: see composition fee.

Noun

letter of composition (plural letters of composition)

1. (Singapore) Official notice of a composition fee (a fine).
   • 1978 May 27, “Parking Victim”, “Need for ‘no parking’ signs”, in The Straits Times, page 17:

     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.

   • 2008 January 2, Soojenn, “Singapore - A Police State”, in Singapore in General‎^[1] (blog):

     I 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?

   • 2013, OECD, Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information Tax Purposes Peer Reviews: Singapore 2013, →ISBN, page 32:

     […] about 300 foreign companies did not file their tax returns with IRAS. Letters of composition were issued to these companies.