GST Registration in Singapore (All You Need To Know)

GST (Goods and Services Tax) is an indirect tax. IRAS (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore) levies GST on most goods and services that your business sells for domestic use.

Here are more things to note about GST.

• It’s not your business that pays Goods and Services Tax, but it's consumers as they buy goods and services.
• Your business only collects GST and remits to IRAS.
• GST is also called Value Added Tax (VAT) or consumption tax.
• IRAS levies 7 % as GST on goods and services to the end consumer.
• If your business deals with residential properties and many financial services, GST doesn’t apply.
• Exports and international services don’t attract GST. Also, services provided by employees don't pay GST.
• Singapore customs collect GST on imported goods when your imports enter the country.
• Your business needs to register with the Comptroller to collect and remit GST.
• Your company works as IRAS’ GST collection agent; you pay the tax to IRAS.

Now that it’s as clear as day what GST is, let’s dive into other crucial issues about the tax.

You should register with IRAS for GST if your business makes a specific amount of turnover per annum. What it also means is that not every business needs to register for GST with the Comptroller.

IRAS offers you two ways for GST registration, including mandatory and voluntary approaches. Read on to find out if your business should register with IRAS for GST.

With mandatory GST registration, you must meet these conditions.

• Your business’ taxable turnover for the previous 12 months is more than S$1 million. IRAS has a fancy word for it; retrospective basis-looking backwards.

• Your company expects to hit more than S$1 million in taxable revenue in the coming 12 months. IRAS calls this prospective basis-looking forward.

Pro Tip: You should monitor your business’s annual taxable turnover at quarter-end to find out if you qualify for GST registration. Total turnover includes your taxable supplies. You can get help with all these calculations at ABSS.

Kudos! You’ve reached this part. Let’s move on to the following GST registration method.

First things first, if your business makes under S$1 million a year, there’s no need to register for GST. But you can choose to do so. In this case, you can voluntarily register for GST and complete some courses.

Note these critical things about the courses on IRAS’ website for voluntary registration.

Pro Tip: It’s your company director(s) who should go through two e-Learning programmes, such as Registration for GST & Overview of GST. But you can avoid this if:

• You’re skilled at handling other existing GST registered businesses.

• The individual preparing your GST returns is an Accredited Tax Practitioner or Accredited Tax Advisor.

• Whoever is preparing your GST returns has done e-Learning courses.

Once you get registered with IRAS, you should remain on its database for a minimum of 2 years.

Your main job is to collect GST and file GST F5 tax returns through myTax Portal, a Singapore government service. Also, you should remit GST that you owe IRAS within a month after filing a return.

Although IRAS wants you to file every quarter, you can apply for monthly GST returns.

If your business doesn’t have GST owing to inactivity or other reasons, you still file a zero return. Remember, Singapore companies whose turnover is more than S$1 million must register.

To know the right time to register for GST, check for these signs.

👉You have made more than S$ 1 million in taxable sales during the previous year. Go on and file for GST registration within 30 days after the last quarter ended.

👉Your company's forecast is plus S$1 million in annual taxable turnover during the coming year. You must apply for GST registration within 30 days after you’ve made this financial decision.

According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, there are 5 steps for GST registration for your business. Check out the GST registration procedure below.

Step 1. Decide what type of GST registration suits your company.  

Recall that if your company is hitting more than S$1 million per year, you must register. Or, if you think that you’ll go beyond that taxable turnover in the next 12 months, choose mandatory GST registration.

Voluntary GST registration only applies to you if you’re not meeting the above conditions.

Step 2. Take the e-Learning course.

A recap. Any of the following people in your business can do the course:

• Company director
• Sole proprietor
• A partner
• Trustee

Registering for GST and GST Overview are the courses that you’ll do. One more exception. IRA excludes a “business [that] is applying to be registered under the Overseas Vendor Pay-only Registration Regime”.

Step 3. Submit your application for GST registration online via mytax.iras.gov.sg.

As you go through this process, you should pay attention to these critical matters.

• Your business needs to authorise in Corppass to use the service.

• Register for a Corppass account if you don’t have one.

• Attach supporting documents.

• Prepare the supporting docs in the soft copy before applying.

• Sign up for GIRO for your GST payment and refund if you’re applying for voluntary GST registration.

Email the completed copy of the GIRO application form to 55 Newton Road Singapore 307987. You do this after submitting your GST application online.

Step 4. GST registration application process

IRAS will take 1o days to process your application and may ask for additional info. Your application may fail to go through if it has missing supporting documents.

Here is more info about GIRO forms.

• IRAS will forward your GIRO forms to your bank for approval.

• Approval takes about 3 weeks.

• IRAS will tell you if your bank turns down your application.

• If your bank says yes to your GIRO application, it’ll notify you. But IRAS won’t update you if your bank approves your request.

Step 5. IRAS notifies of the GST registration date

If your registration application is successful, IRAS will send a letter to your registered address. The contents of the letter will include:

You can check the notification letter’s copy by logging in to mytax.iras.gov.org. IRAS may also send you an SMS or an email if you provide a local mobile number or email address.

Also, note that if you select voluntary GST registration, IRAS will take two weeks to approve your request.

Even if your company qualifies for mandatory GST registration, you can request IRAS to exempt you. But you must meet these requirements.

• At least 90% of your business’s total revenue comes from supplies that do not pay GST, i.e. the goods are “Zero-rated”.

• The difference between the GST you have collected for supplies vs the GST you have paid for purchases is negative. IRAS would have refunded you with GST as a GST registered business.

You can withdraw your registration when you stop operating your business or sell it to another individual. However, your business must remain registered for a minimum of two years to cancel your registration.

To notify IRAS of your cancellation, you must hand in an application form and relevant documents. You should do this within 30 days from the time you stopped trading.

In addition, if you registered voluntarily, you can still cancel the registration.

Let’s recap on some things and also add more details about filing GST tax returns. You should charge GST and submit your GST F5 tax returns every quarter to IRAS. But you can also do so per month. Include these items in your GST return:

• The total value of your domestic sales.

• Exports and purchases from GST registered businesses

• The GST you have collected and claimed for that trading period.

• Report your input and output tax.

In addition, it’s essential to consider the issues below.

• File GST via myTaxPortal.

• Note that you’ll make your next GST returns online again before the end of each trading period. Monthly or quarterly.

• You can submit your GST-F5 a day after your accounting period.

• Make sure you send in your returns to IRAs within one month of the accounting period you chose.

• Even if you’ve GST transactions, you must still submit a zero return.

• Pay GST to IRAS within one month after filing an F5 return.

Not filing or submitting your returns will pose problems for your business. IRAS will penalise you $200 after the due date for paying your GST. Note again. 👇

“A penalty of $200 will continue to be imposed for every completed month when the GST F5/F8 return remains outstanding, up to a maximum of $10,000 for each outstanding F5/F8 return.”

IRAS will also send you a statement with estimated unpaid GST plus penalties. Based on these stiff penalties, your business must take filing GST-F5 as a top priority.

Wondering how you can save yourself the headache of filing GST-F5 and focus more on steering your business to success?

ABSS's accounting software is here to help you.

You won’t feel the pressure of GST registration, preparing and filing GST returns. Your business will get all the assistance it needs, making the whole process stress-free for you.

IRAS charges GST on final goods and services for local use. As a result, GST doesn’t affect your corporate tax. Your task is simple. Add a 7% GST to all your goods and services. Collect and remit it to IRAS.

But at ABSS, we'll make it clear how you can add GST to tax invoices with our e invoicing software.

IRAS says you’ll face these penalties:

• Your date of registration will be backdated to the date you were liable for registration.

• You will have to account for and pay GST on your past sales starting from the effective date of registration, even if you did not collect any GST from your customers.

• You may face a fine of up to $10,000 and a penalty equal to 10% of the GST due. Prosecution action may apply.

(Taken from IRAS’s website)

You should not worry about failing to meet the deadline and, as a result, suffer penalties. ABSS accounting software is here to help with this process.

You’ll concentrate on the core activities of your business, knowing that your GST issues is well managed.

Like Value Added Tax (VAT), GST is an indirect tax on the final goods and services for local use. As a business in Singapore, IRAS says you must register for GST. But your total annual turnover must be more than S$1 million.

You can also choose to voluntarily register if you’re not hitting that amount. But recall that non-GST registered businesses can't charge and claim the Goods and Sales Tax.

You must file your GST-F5 quarterly or monthly. ABSS's accounting software can make the whole process easy for you, from GST registration to filing returns.