We refer to the letter “Another GST ‘anomaly’” (ST Forum) on 28 March 2013.

The Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) was first introduced in 1994 to allow tourists to claim a GST refund on purchases made in Singapore that would be brought out via the Changi Airport and Seletar Airport.

Following a review of TRS, in view of the increasing popularity of fly-cruise vacations, the TRS has been extended to international cruise passengers departing Singapore via the international cruise terminals from January this year.

In the same review, we had considered implementing TRS at the land checkpoints. However, we assessed that such a move will carry a significantly higher risk of "round-tripping", where GST-refunded goods brought out of Singapore make their way back for local consumption free of GST. Due to the high daily volume of commuters and tourists moving through the land checkpoints, availing refunds for outgoing tourists and checking on incoming travellers to mitigate round-tripping risks will adversely impact traffic flow and cause inconvenience to all travellers. The TRS is therefore not extended to the land checkpoints.

We would like to thank the writer for his feedback.