Singapore GST

GST is simple until your books have to prove it.

Singapore GST is charged at 9% from 1 January 2024. Businesses with annual taxable turnover above SGD 1 million must register. The hard part is keeping the evidence, coding, and review trail clean enough for Form F5.

The operating model

A GST-registered business charges GST on standard-rated supplies, recovers GST paid on eligible purchases, and reports the net amount to IRAS, usually quarterly on Form F5.

Standard-rated supplies: 9% GST.
Zero-rated supplies: 0% GST, but still taxable, so input tax can usually be recovered.
Exempt supplies: no GST charged, and related input tax is generally not recoverable.
Records normally need to be retained for 5 years.

Input tax needs evidence.

Input tax recovery depends on GST registration, business purpose, valid tax invoices, attribution to taxable supplies, and whether the expense is blocked under GST regulations. Mixed taxable and exempt supplies can require partial exemption apportionment.

How Accountant Included fits

The product is being built to preserve source documents, GST coding, and reasoning so the F5 review pack is not assembled from memory at quarter end.

This guide is general operational information, not tax advice. Verify GST treatment with IRAS guidance or a qualified adviser before relying on it.

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