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GST

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GST

Businesses Required to Register for GST
As a business, you must register for GST when

  • Your taxable turnover for the past 12 months ending Mar, Jun, Sep or Dec (referred to as “quarter”) is more than $1 million; or
  • You are making or intend to make taxable supplies and you can reasonably expect your taxable turnover in the next 12 months to be more than $1 million (e.g signing of a sales contract or business agreement)
  • If your business does not exceed $1 million in taxable turnover, you may still choose to voluntarily register for GST after careful consideration.

Taxable and Non-Taxable Goods and Services
The table below lists the categories and types of taxable and non-taxable supplies.

Goods Taxable Supplies
Standard-Rated Supplies (7% GST)Zero-Rated Supplies
(0% GST)
Most local sales fall under this category.

E.g. sale of TV set in a Singapore retail shop

Export of goods

E.g. sale of laptop to overseas customer where the laptop is shipped to an overseas address

 Goods Non-Taxable Supplies
Exempt Supplies
(GST is not applicable)		Out-of-Scope Supplies
(GST is not applicable)
Sale and rental of unfurnished residential property
Importation and local supply of investment precious metals		Sale where goods are delivered from overseas to another place overseas Private transactions See Out-of-scope supplies for more information.
Services Taxable Supplies
Standard-Rated Supplies (7% GST)Zero-Rated Supplies
(0% GST)
Most local provision of services fall under this category.
E.g. provision of spa services to a customer in Singapore		Services that are classified as international services
E.g. air ticket from Singapore to Thailand (international transportation service)
Services Non-Taxable Supplies
Exempt Supplies
(GST is not applicable)		Out-of-Scope Supplies
(GST is not applicable)
Financial services
E.g. issue of a debt security

Charging and Collecting GST

  • Once you have registered for GST, you must charge GST on your supplies at the prevailing rate. This GST that is charged and collected is known as output tax.Output tax must be paid to IRAS.
  • The GST that you incur on business purchases and expenses (including import of goods) is known as input tax. If your business satisfies the conditions for claiming input tax, you can claim the input tax on your business purchases and expenses.
  • This input tax credit mechanism ensures that only the value added is taxed at each stage of a supply chain.

Paying Output Tax and Claiming Input Tax Credits
As a GST-registered business

  • You must submit your GST return to IRAS one month after the end of each prescribed accounting period. This is usually done on a quarterly basis.
  • You should report both your output tax and input tax in your GST return.
  • The difference between output tax and input tax is the net GST payable to IRAS or refunded by IRAS.