Applying for GST Registration
Assess whether you are required to register for GST.
Compulsory Registration
You must register for GST if your taxable turnover is:
1. Under the retrospective view, more than $1 million at the end of the calendar year, or
2. Under the prospective view, expected to be more than $1 million in the next 12 months
Taxable turnover refers to the total value of all taxable supplies made in Singapore in the course or furtherance of businesses, which include:
1. standard-rated supplies (e.g. local supply of goods or services including the supply of low-value goods to individuals and businesses in Singapore that are not registered for GST from 1 Jan 2023), and
2. zero-rated supplies (e.g. export of goods or supply of international services), but exclude:
1. exempt supplies (including exempt supplies that fall within the definition of international services, e.g. financial services provided to overseas persons, and are thus zero-rated),
2. out-of-scope supplies, and
3. sale of capital assets (e.g. sale of machinery, equipment, office building and furniture).
If you are not liable for GST registration, you may choose to register voluntarily after careful consideration.
You may also be liable for GST registration under the Reverse charge and Overseas vendor registration regime. For more information, please refer to Reverse charge and overseas vendor registration.
All currency/ monetary amounts stated refer to Singapore dollars.
Retrospective view
If your taxable turnover at the end of the calendar year is more than $1 million, you must register for GST by 30 Jan. You will be registered for GST on 1 Mar.
You are encouraged to use the GST Registration Calculator (from 2019) to assist you in determining your GST registration liability.
Prospective view
At any point in time, if you can reasonably expect your taxable turnover to be more than $1 million in the next 12 months, you must register for GST within 30 days from the date of your forecast and you will be registered on the 31st day from the forecast date.
You must have supporting documents to support your forecast value of $1 million. For example:
Contract or agreement with more than $1 million value signed
Accepted quotations or confirmed purchase orders with more than $1 million value from customers
Invoices to customers with fixed monthly fee charged
Income statements showing that past 12-month turnover was already close to $1 million and that annual turnover is on an increasing trend, turnover for next 12 months projected to be more than $1 million
On the other hand, you are not required to register for GST if there is no certainty in your forecast. For example, you made a forecast based on market assessment, business plans or sales targets.
Exception
You will not be required to register for GST if:
a. Your taxable turnover is derived wholly or mainly from zero-rated supplies and you apply for exemption from registration.
b. You are liable for GST registration under the retrospective view but not under the prospective view and the following conditions are met:
You are certain that your taxable turnover for the next 12 months will not exceed S$1 million
The taxable turnover is projected to be lower due to specific circumstances (e.g. large-scale downsizing of business)
You have supporting documentation to substantiate your projection
You must nonetheless continue to monitor your taxable turnover at the end of the next calendar year.
Qualifying for Voluntary Registration
You may apply to be GST-registered on a voluntary basis even if it is not compulsory for you to register for GST.
To qualify for voluntary registration, you must satisfy any of the following:
1. Your business makes taxable supplies;
2. Your business only makes out-of-scope supplies. Out-of-scope supplies mainly refer to sales of goods which did not enter Singapore and goods in transit;
3. Your business makes exempt supplies of financial services that are also international services; or
4. Your business procures services from overseas service providers or purchases low-value goods and you would not be entitled to full input tax credit even if you were GST-registered.
If you have not started any of the above transactions, but intend to do so in future, you may also apply for voluntary GST registration. You will have to satisfy the Comptroller that you are operating or carrying on a business, and have firm intentions to carry out the above transactions.
If you do not have firm intentions or plans to carry out any of the above transactions, you should not apply for GST registration.
Factors to Consider before Registering Voluntarily for GST
Before registering for GST voluntarily, you should consider whether:
(a) you qualify for voluntary registration;
(b) you are able to meet the conditions imposed for voluntary registration; and
(c) the benefits outweigh the costs of registering for GST.
Conditions for Voluntary Registration
Before registration
You need to ensure that you qualify for voluntary GST registration and fulfil all the conditions below before registering for GST.
1. Apply for GIRO for payment and/or refund of GST.
2. Provide the security deposit, if the Comptroller requires you to do so.
After registration
You must remain GST-registered for at least 2 years.
You are required to comply with the following conditions, failing which, your GST registration may be cancelled.
1. Maintain a GIRO account for payment and refund of GST.
2. Make taxable supplies within 2 years (or such approved longer period) if you have not started making taxable supplies at the point of applying for GST registration.
GST Registration Process
The GST registration process depends on the type of registration and constitution of your business.
1. Determine the type of GST registration
You must determine if you are applying for compulsory or voluntary GST registration.
2. Submit your application for GST registration
Please prepare all the relevant supporting documents for applications for GST registration.
Document Checklist
Please submit all document(s) that are applicable to you/is/are available.
1) Business Constitution
2a) Business Registered with Unique Entity Number (UEN)
Company / Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
Latest updated copy of ACRA Business Profile
(including ACRA Business Profile of each sole-proprietorship business)
Partnership / Limited Partnership (LP) / Joint Venture (JV)
Latest updated copy of ACRA Business Profile
(including ACRA Business Profile of each Partnership, LP or JV business with the same composition of partners)
Sole-Proprietor
Latest updated copy of ACRA Business Profile
(including ACRA Business Profile of each sole-proprietorship business owned)
Appointment of Local Agent
(if the sole-proprietor does not have his/her usual place of residence in Singapore)
Others (e.g. Charity, Management Corporation (MCST))
Certificate of registration / constitution issued by the relevant agency
2b) Business Entity with no Unique Entity Number (UEN)
Joint Venture (JV) not registered with ACRA
Partnership Agreements, Joint Venture Contracts, Deeds, Letters of Undertaking or other documentary evidence governing its constitution, objects, rules and activities
Form GST F3 (Details of all partners / JV members)
Incorporated Overseas
Certificate of Incorporation, officially translated into English and notarised
Others (e.g. Trust and Funds)
Agreement, Contract, Deed or other documentary evidence of the establishment
3) Business Activities
Started sales
Listing of your sales/ revenue for the past 2 months in the format below:
Format for Sales / Revenue Listing:
Date of Invoice (DD/MM/YYYY) / Invoice Number / Name of Customer / Description of sales / Invoice Amount (S$) / Destination of goods (if applicable)
Copies of 3 recent invoices (including shipping documents) issued to your customers OR all invoices if you have issued less than 3 invoices to your customers
Made purchases
Listing of your business purchases for the past 2 months in the format below:
Format for Business Purchase Listing:
Date of Invoice (DD/MM/Y YYY) / Invoice Number / Name of Supplier / Supplier's GST Registration Number / Description / Invoice Amount excluding GST (S$) / GST Amount (S$) (if applicable)
Copies of 3 recent purchase/ suppliers’ invoices received, including shipping documents OR all invoices if you have made less than 3 business purchases
A copy of 1 recent overseas invoice received from your supplier (if you have purchased imported services)
Yet to make sales and purchases
A detailed description of your business plan including:
- What products and/or services will your business be selling / providing;
- How the products and services will be purchased and delivered / provided;
- How will your business be financed;
- A full list of your potential / confirmed suppliers; and
- A full list of your potential / confirmed customers
If each list exceeds 20, please provide only 20 suppliers & customers.
4) A copy of License / Permit / Approval from the relevant authorities to operate your business (Applicable if you are required to obtain them before you can operate your business / have taken over the business from another GST-registered business / person as a going concern)
5) Type of Registration
a) Compulsory Registration
A copy of the document(s) supporting the forecast that your taxable supplies in the next 12 months will exceed S$1 million (e.g. signed contract(s), accepted tender / quotation, confirmed purchase order(s) and other documents)
A copy of the document(s) supporting the forecast that your imported services in the next 12 months will exceed S$1 million (e.g. signed purchase contract(s) and other documents)
b) Voluntary Registration
If you are registering for GST on a voluntary basis, you are required to sign up for GIRO for your GST payment and refund after submitting your GST registration application. GIRO Application Form to be submitted by post within 5 working days from date of GST registration application
A copy of the latest Profit & Loss account, including reports & notes to accounts (need not be audited)
A copy of rental agreement (including invoice for rental and payment evidence of deposit or rental paid, if any) for your business office, warehouse, or shop OR A copy of the Home Office Scheme approval from HDB / URA for your business office if you are operating your business from your residence
A signed "Acceptance Copy" of Option to purchase/ Sales & purchase agreement (if you have purchased a property for your business)
Any other document(s) to support that you are making / have intention to make taxable supplies, out-of-scope supplies or exempt supplies
Appointment of Local Agent
Under Section 33(1) of the Goods and Services Tax Act, an agent resident in Singapore must be appointed as the substituted person of the overseas person (who is applying for GST Registration) to be accountable for any tax or any duties accountable by the overseas person. As such, please give us a Letter of Authorisation from the applicant (i.e. the overseas person) using the applicant's company letterhead.
Name of Overseas Person:
Full Name of Signatory & Designation:
Name, NRIC/UEN & Address of Local Agent:
Full Name of Signatory & Designation:
If you are a foreign company not incorporated in Singapore, you must provide us with the following information:-
Certificate of incorporation of overseas company, officially translated into English and notarised (containing entity name, date of incorporation, country of incorporation)
Detailed description of your business activity (including how the transactions are carried out in Singapore).
Whether you will be setting up a branch in Singapore. If yes, please provide a copy of the certificate of registration. If no, please give us the reasons.
Notification of Effective Date of Registration
If your application for GST registration is successful, you will receive a letter sent to your registered address to inform you of your successful application.
The letter will contain the following details:
Your GST registration number This is the number that you must print on your invoices, credit notes and receipts; and
Your effective date of GST registration This is the date when you must start charging and collecting GST on your taxable supplies.
If you applied for registration on a voluntary basis, you will be registered within 2 weeks from the date of the approval letter.
Processing Time for GST Registration Application
IRAS usually takes 10 working days to process your application.
The GIRO application form approval process may take up to 3 weeks.
Contacts
We are Accredited Tax Advisers (ATA) or Accredited Tax Practitioners (ATP). We help preparing your GST returns. Bestar can be appointed as your agent for the purpose of complying with your legal obligations in connection with GST and authorised for this purpose to sign GST Returns and all other documents.
Your business must first authorise our tax agent in Corppass (for any of IRAS’ digital services e.g. e-Filing of Corporate Tax, e-Submission of Employment Income, etc.) to access the GST registration digital service.
Please contact us now for more details.
ความคิดเห็น