Tourists can look forward to a hassle-free tourist refund experience in Singapore from mid-2011. Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) is partnering Global Blue to develop a new electronic tourist refund system that will remove form filling by tourists at the point of purchase, and make it easy for them to claim GST refunds at Changi Airport.

Currently, the tourist refund scheme is either operated by the retailers themselves or through the central refund agencies (CRAs), Global Blue and Premier Tax Free. The paper-based tourist refund system is burdensome and inconvenient for both tourists and retailers at the point of purchase because of the need to fill refund claim forms. At the airport, tourists have to queue at different counters at the airport, which include Singapore Customs’ counters and refund counters operated by the respective CRAs, to make their refund claims.

The new electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS), when fully implemented, will be a major improvement over the current paper-based system. Tourists can enjoy a consistent experience when they make purchases from different retailers in Singapore, and expect faster clearance process at the airport checkpoints. The purchase details at the point-of-sale will be captured into an electronic system and tagged into a token (e.g. credit card) carried by the tourist. At the airport, all that a tourist needs to do is to use his passport and token to retrieve records of his purchase details at the validation kiosk and choose to either get his GST refund in cash or paid to his credit card account. Please refer to the Appendix (PDF, 210KB) for details on the current and the new tourist refund schemes.

The eTRS will be implemented in phases from mid-2011. We are targeting 500 retailers to participate in the pilot phase. The current paper-based tourist refund system will continue to operate until the new electronic tourist refund system is fully implemented in third quarter of 2012.

IRAS has consulted the major retailers and retail trade associations and obtained their feedback on the eTRS. The “GST Guide on Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme” which explains the requirements of the eTRS is now available on IRAS website. Retailers who have enquiries or comments on the Scheme may call 1800 356 8633 or email to [email protected].

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore