Singapore GST compliance and rates

Goods and services (GST) tax in Singapore is a broad-based consumption tax levied on almost all supplies of goods and services in the country. GST also applies to goods and services imported into Singapore.

GST is paid whenever customers buy taxable goods or services from GST-registered businesses. The GST that is charged and collected by businesses making the supply is called output tax, which must be paid to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). The GST that businesses incur on their purchases or imports is called input tax. Businesses can claim back the amount of input tax that exceeds output tax.

GST is chargeable on goods and services if:

• The supply is made in Singapore

• The supply is a taxable supply

• The supply is made by a taxable person, and

• The supply is made in the course or furtherance of any business carried out by the taxable person

The permanent GST voucher scheme was introduced in Singapore to help lower-income households with their expenses.

The scheme provides: lower income Singaporean households with cash for immediate needs; those aged over 65 with financial support for medical needs; eligible households with quarterly rebates to offset their utility bills; and eligible households with a rebate to offset their Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC).

The standard GST rate in Singapore is 9%.

A number of goods and services are exempt from GST in Singapore. These include financial services such as the sale of shares or bonds, exchanges of currency, charges by banks for the operation of bank accounts, and the provision of loans and life insurance policies.

The sale and lease of residential properties are also exempt from GST, as are the import and supply of investment precious metals (IPM) such as silver, gold, and platinum.

GST-registered businesses must submit periodic returns detailing all taxable supplies (sales) and inputs (costs). Generally, returns are submitted monthly in Singapore.

Payments of any associated GST liability must be paid by the return deadline. In the case of a tax credit (where the GST incurred by the company exceeds the GST charged on its sales in the reporting period), approved credits will be paid over to the company within three weeks of the return deadline.

GST-registered businesses must issue tax invoices to their GST-registered customers within 30 days of the time of supply (unless for a zero-rated or exempt supplies).

Tax invoices can be issued for zero-rated and exempt supplies on a voluntary basis. In this case, GST will be charged at 0%.

Businesses operating in Singapore must determine when the supply was made for each transaction by applying the time of supply rules. The time of supply for most transactions is triggered by either the date a payment was received or the date an invoice was issued — whichever is the earlier of the two.