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Introduction

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Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax on consumption levied in Singapore by the Inland Revenue Authority on most supplies of goods and services including imports.  In Singapore, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a broad-based consumption tax. ​There are exemptions from GST on certain supplies of Financial Services, the sale and lease of Residential Property, Supply of Digital Payment Tokens etc. 

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The export of goods and supply of services abroad are zero rated. 

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Note: GST is known as VAT in other jurisdictions.

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VAT Rates

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Standard Rated 9% - Most local goods (electronics, clothes) and services (consultancy, dining).

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Zero-Rated 0% - Export of goods and international services (e.g., airfares, services for overseas clients).

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Exempt - Financial services (loans, life insurance), sale/lease of residential property, and digital tokens (Bitcoin).

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Out-of-Scope of GST - Sales where goods do not enter Singapore or private transactions.

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Note: If you provide zero-rated services, you charge 0% GST but can still reclaim the 9% GST you paid to your local suppliers. If you provide exempt services, you cannot reclaim that input tax.

 

VAT Recovery

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Businesses in Singapore can recover input VAT on their purchases (local and imports) provided they make taxable sales.​​​​

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Visitors (tourists) to Singapore can recover a portion of the GST paid on your purchases through the Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme.

 

VAT Groups

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In Singapore VAT Group Registration allows two or more companies to be treated as a single taxable person for GST purposes.  This allows them to file a single group VAT return via a representative member (chosen company) and inter-group sales are disregarded for VAT and thus 9% VAT is not applied to inter- group invoicing .  

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VAT Registration Thresholds

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The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) monitors turnover on two bases:

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• Compulsory Registration: You must register if your annual taxable turnover exceeds S$1 million.

  • Retrospective: At the end of any calendar year, your turnover was >S$1 million.

  • Prospective: You have reasonable grounds to expect your turnover will exceed S$1 million in the next 12 months (e.g., a signed contract).

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• Voluntary Registration: If your turnover is below S$1 million, you can choose to register to claim back input tax.

  • Condition: You must remain registered for at least 2 years.

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E invoicing

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The biggest change in 2026 is the mandatory shift to Invoice Now, Singapore’s national e-invoicing network based on the Peppol standard.

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• Effective April 1, 2026: All new voluntary GST registrants must implement Invoice Now.

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• Requirements: You must use an "InvoiceNow-ready" accounting solution to transmit invoice data directly to IRAS. Static PDFs or paper invoices are no longer sufficient for these registrants to remain compliant.

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• Phasing: This follows the November 2025 mandate for newly incorporated companies. Existing registrants are expected to be onboarded in subsequent phases throughout 2026–2027.

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Other Compliance Rules​

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Reverse Charges - If you are a GST-registered business (or a non-registered business with >S$1M turnover) and you import services from overseas (e.g., Google Ads, software subscriptions), you may be required to account for GST yourself via the Reverse Charge mechanism.

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Foreign Vendor Registration - businesses selling Digital Services or Low-Value Goods (valued ≤S$400) to Singaporean consumers must register for GST if their global turnover is >S$1M and their local B2C sales exceed S$100,000.

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For more information please see the ​Singapore Inland Revenue Authority Website - Goods & Services Tax (GST)

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