When must a Singapore business register for GST?
IRAS says you must register for GST if your taxable turnover was more than S$1 million in a calendar year (the retrospective view), or if you can reasonably expect it to be more than S$1 million in the next 12 months (the prospective view). IRAS adds that the reverse charge and overseas vendor registration regimes can also make registration compulsory. You may apply for exemption if your taxable turnover comes wholly or mainly from zero-rated supplies, and if you are liable under the retrospective view alone, you need not register when you are certain, for specified reasons you can document, that your taxable turnover for the next 12 months will not exceed S$1 million. If you are below the threshold, you may register voluntarily, but you must then stay registered for at least 2 years. Once registered, you charge GST at 9% on standard-rated supplies.
What counts towards S$1 million
IRAS counts as taxable turnover the value of taxable supplies made in Singapore in the course or furtherance of business. That means standard-rated and zero-rated supplies. Exempt supplies, out-of-scope supplies and sales of capital assets are left out.
How the turnover is added up depends on the business form, according to IRAS. If you are a sole proprietor, you add up all your sole proprietorships, registered with ACRA or not, and your income from a trade, profession or vocation. Partners add up all partnerships with the same composition of partners. A company counts its own turnover plus that of any sole proprietorships it owns.
IRAS also names two other routes to compulsory registration. The reverse charge regime covers a business that buys services from overseas suppliers or imports low-value goods and would not be entitled to full input tax credit even if registered. The overseas vendor registration regime covers overseas suppliers, and electronic marketplace operators or redeliverers, that supply customers in Singapore who are not GST-registered.
The two tests and their dates
Under the retrospective view, IRAS looks at the calendar year from 1 Jan to 31 Dec. If your taxable turnover exceeded S$1 million, you must apply between 1 Jan and 30 Jan of the following year, and you are registered from 1 Mar. If you passed S$1 million during the year but do not reasonably expect to exceed it in the next 12 months, you are not required to register at once.
Under the prospective view, IRAS requires you to apply within 30 days after the date of your forecast. If the liability arises on or after 1 Jul 2025, your registration takes effect 2 months from the forecast date. Before then, it took effect on the 31st day after the forecast. IRAS expects documents to support the forecast. If there is no certainty in the forecast, you are not required to register.
Exceptions and late registration
IRAS lets you apply for exemption from registration if your taxable turnover comes wholly or mainly from zero-rated supplies.
If you are liable under the retrospective view only, you need not register if you are certain that your taxable turnover for the next 12 months will not exceed S$1 million because of specified circumstances, IRAS says. These include the end of a high-value sales contract with a major customer where new contracts are unlikely in the next 12 months, large-scale downsizing, the revocation of a business licence and the cessation of all business. You must keep documents and a detailed computation, and check your turnover again once the next calendar year is over.
IRAS warns that registering late has costs. Your registration date is backdated to when you ought to have registered, and you must pay GST on past sales even if you collected none. You may also face a fine of up to S$10,000 and a penalty of 10% of the GST due. If you disclose the lateness voluntarily when you apply, IRAS generally waives the fine and penalties, but you still pay the backdated GST.
Registering voluntarily
IRAS allows you to register voluntarily if your business makes taxable supplies, makes only out-of-scope supplies, or makes exempt financial services that are also international services. You also qualify if you buy services from overseas or import low-value goods and are not entitled to full input tax credit.
As a voluntary registrant, you must use GIRO and stay registered for at least 2 years, IRAS says. If you had no taxable supplies at registration, you must make them within 2 years. You must also meet any other condition IRAS imposes, such as a guarantee.
IRAS notes that a registered business can generally claim the GST on its purchases, but may have to absorb GST if its customers are not registered. Before you register voluntarily, the director, sole proprietor, partner, trustee or person preparing the GST returns must complete IRAS's e-Learning course “Overview of GST”, unless one of IRAS's exceptions applies.
What registration involves
IRAS's approval letter gives your GST registration number and the effective date of registration. You must not charge GST before that date.
From the effective date, IRAS requires you to charge GST at 9% on standard-rated supplies. You file a GST return and pay within one month from the end of each accounting period, and you file a NIL return if there were no transactions. You must also display GST-inclusive prices (IRAS exempts hotel and food and beverage businesses supplying goods and services subject to a service charge), issue tax invoices to GST-registered customers, keep records for at least 5 years and notify IRAS of business changes within 30 days.
Keeping on the right side of the test
IRAS adds up turnover differently for a sole proprietorship and a company; see how a sole proprietorship compares with a company. An accounting firm can watch your running total and prepare your returns, and firms of this kind are ranked in this site's list. Separately, IRAS lifts the e-Learning requirement when a voluntary registrant's returns are prepared by an Accredited Tax Adviser or Accredited Tax Practitioner. The obligation stays with you, because IRAS calls GST a self-assessed tax.