Singapore: IRAS publishes updated FAQs on GST registration obligations

IRAS updated its FAQs on 28 August 2025 to clarify GST registration requirements for businesses.=

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore has updated its guidance on Do I need to register for GST on 28 August 2025.

This includes new and updated FAQs as follows:

1. I have already made SGD 400,000 of sales since the start of this calendar year, and I expect to make an additional SGD 800,000 before 31 December. Do I need to register for GST under the compulsory basis now?

For the purpose of ascertaining if you are liable to register for GST, you should look at the taxable turnover and not sales.

If there is no certainty that your taxable turnover will exceed SGD 1 million in the next 12 months, you do not need to register on a prospective basis. However, at the end of the calendar year, you will need to check if your taxable turnover for the year exceeded SGD 1 million to determine if registration is required under the retrospective basis.

If you are not liable for registration under either basis but still wish to register, you may do so voluntarily.

2. I am a Singapore-based business that sells goods from a place outside Singapore to another place outside Singapore. The goods do not enter Singapore, and I do not make any other supplies of goods and services. Do I need to register for GST if my supplies exceed SGD 1 million?

No, there is no need to register for GST if your supply of goods is considered an out-of-scope supply. You should continue to monitor the value of your taxable turnover to determine your liability to register for GST.

3. I run a property trading business in partnership with someone else. Do I need to include the proceeds from the sales of commercial properties that were held in the name of the partners as bare trustees of the partnership, when computing my partnership’s taxable turnover for GST registration purpose?

Yes, you have to include the proceeds from the sale of these commercial properties when computing your partnership’s taxable turnover for GST registration purpose.
As your partnership is in the business of trading in properties, the properties held by the partners as bare trustees of the partnership are not capital assets of the business. The sales of commercial properties by the bare trustees are the taxable supplies made by your partnership.

4. If I am a director, do I need to register for GST?

If you are an executive director, you are not liable to register for GST since you are providing the directorship services in the course of your employment.
If you are a non-executive director, you may be liable to register for GST if:
You are the supplier of the directorship services; and
You provide the directorship services in the course or furtherance of a business. The business tests can be used to determine whether you are carrying on a business with the provision of the directorship services.

5. IRAS backdated my effective date of GST registration, so I must account for and pay the GST on the past sales even though I did not collect from customers. Can I recover the GST on the past sales from customers?

Yes, you can recover this GST from your customers if they agree to pay it. In turn, your GST-registered customers will be able to claim this GST paid as input tax, if they satisfy all the conditions for claiming input tax. In such situations, you have two options for issuing the necessary documentation:
Option 1: Issue credit notes to cancel the original invoices, then re-issue tax invoices with GST. You may also issue a consolidated credit note with all the required information.
Option 2: Issue one tax invoice showing only the GST amount, referencing all original invoice numbers. This is an administrative concession where multiple invoices are issued to the same customer during the affected period.

6. I have changed my business constitution, (e.g. converted from partnership to company, from sole-proprietorship to partnership, or vice versa), can I continue to use the same GST registration number?

You are not allowed to use the GST registration number of the old business constitution.
You must cancel the GST registration of old business constitution, as it would have ceased to exist.
If you are liable for GST registration after change in business constitution, you must apply for GST registration.

7. I acquired a business that is GST-registered, can I continue to use the GST registration number of the business?

You are not allowed to use the same GST registration number.
You must cancel the GST registration of the business that you acquired, as it would have ceased to exist.
If you are liable for GST registration after the acquisition or change in business constitution, you must apply for GST registration.

8. When I acquire a business, do I have to register for GST as a result of the acquisition?

If you acquired a business, you have to include the taxable turnover of that business to determine your liability to register for GST.
If you are liable for GST registration after the acquisition, you must submit an application for GST registration within 30 days from the date of transfer of the acquired business. Your effective date of GST registration will be the date of transfer.
However, if you are certain at the time of transfer of business that your taxable turnover for the next 12 months will not exceed SGD 1 million, you will not be required to register for GST.

9. Can I split my business into multiple entities (each with taxable turnover not exceeding SGD 1 million) to avoid registering for GST?

If we determine that the purpose or effect of splitting the business into multiple entities is to avoid GST registration, we may disregard such an arrangement and register your entire business for GST with effect from the date you are liable for GST registration.
You will then need to account for GST on all past transactions made from that date of registration, even though you may not have collected GST from your customers.

10. If I am late in my GST registration, can the requirement for backdating the effective GST registration date and payment of backdated tax be waived?

No. GST is a self-assessed tax. Businesses are responsible to monitor their sales and register for GST once the annual taxable turnover exceeds SGD 1 million.
However, if you voluntarily disclose that you are late when you submit your GST registration after the due date, late notification fines and penalties will generally be waived.