When to charge Goods and Services Tax (GST)
GST is charged on all sales of goods and services made in Singapore, except for exported goods, international services and exempt supplies
General rule on charging 9% GST
GST is charged at the prevailing rate of 9% . GST-registered businesses must charge GST on all sales of goods and services made in Singapore.
If you would like to know whether you need to charge GST or deem GST on other business transactions (e.g. recovery of expenses, gifts and samples, the issue of vouchers), please refer to Common scenarios - Do I charge GST.
From 1 Jan 2019, if you are making a local sale of prescribed goods (i.e. mobile phones, memory cards, off-the-shelf software) to a GST-registered customer, you need to apply customer accounting if
the value of supply exceeds $10,000 (in GST-exclusive value).
Exceptions to charging 9% GST
The following supplies are exceptions to the requirement to charge GST at the prevailing rate of 9%.
Export of goods
For exports of goods, GST is charged at 0% (zero-rate). Zero-rated supplies are considered taxable supplies. However, GST is charged at 0% instead of 9%.
Provision of international services
GST is also charged at 0% (zero-rate) for the provision of international services. International services are similarly considered taxable supplies where GST is charged at 0% instead of 9%.
Exempt supplies
GST does not need to be charged on exempt supplies, which are broadly categorised into:
a. The provision of financial services
b. The supply of digital payment tokens (with effect from 1 Jan 2020)
c. Sale and lease of residential properties and
d. The import and local supply of investment precious metals (IPM)
Common errors on output tax
Get to know the common output tax errors made by businesses and learn how you can avoid them through our series of videos!