Singapore GST Filing Made Simple and Stress-Free

GST registration is only required for companies that exceed $1 million in taxable turnover at the end of the calendar year or companies expecting over $1 million in taxable turnover in the next 12 months.

From 1 Jan 2020, the following new GST requirements must also be satisfied for B2B and B2C businesses:

1. (B2B) If the total value of your imported services for a 12-month period exceeds S$1 million, you may become liable for GST.
2. (B2C) If you operate outside of Singapore, you are required to register for GST in Singapore if you:
3. (i) have an annual global turnover exceeding $1 million; and
4. (ii) make B2C sales of digital services to customers in Singapore exceeding $100,000

Companies may be exempted from GST registration under certain conditions.

Being a GST registered company in Singapore means you will need to charge GST to your customers for the sales you make and to also claim back any GST paid for goods that you have purchased.

Only businesses that exceed S$1 million in annual taxable turnover are required to register for GST.
Companies with annual taxable turnover below this threshold can voluntarily register for GST with the following considerations:

• Remain GST-registered for at least 2 years

• Maintain a GIRO account for payment and refund of GST

• Make taxable supplies within 2 years

• Comply fully with the responsibilities of a GST-registered business listed here.

All businesses registered for GST must comply with the requirement of filing GST F5 tax returns with IRAS.

The filing process involves electronically submitting the returns via the myTax Portal on a monthly or quarterly basis. Even if a business had no GST transactions during a specific accounting period, it is still necessary to file a NIL return. Following the submission of F5 returns, companies are given a one-month window to make GST payments to IRAS.

It is important for a company to report both its input tax (GST paid on purchases from suppliers or imported goods) and its output tax (GST collected from customers).

By deducting the input GST from the output GST, the net GST for the company can be calculated.

Companies with annual taxable turnover over S$1 million must register for GST. However, companies may apply for exemption from registration if you meet both the conditions below:

• more than 90% of total taxable supplies are zero-rated supplies

• once GST-registered, company will be at net refundable position (Net refundable position refers to a situation where the output tax chargeable is less than the input tax claimable on imports and/or purchases from GST-registered suppliers)

Upon approval of your exemption application, companies do not need to collect GST on sales nor file GST returns. However, companies will also not be able to claim the GST incurred on your business purchases of goods and services.