31 December 2015

On 18 December 2015, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) issued the fourth edition of the e-Tax Guide, “GST: Import GST Deferment Scheme”.

The e-Tax Guide explains how Import GST Deferment Scheme (IGDS) works and sets out the qualifying conditions of IGDS as well as the responsibilities of an IGDS business.

IGDS allows an approved business to defer the payment of import GST until the submission of the GST return for the prescribed accounting period. This scheme is not applicable to customs or excise duties, which remain payable upfront at the point of importation.

As an approved IGDS business, businesses are required to account for the deferred import GST in the GST return for the period in which the import GST is payable. If the goods are imported for the business of making taxable supplies, they are entitled to claim the import GST as input tax in the same period.

IGDS will apply to both dutiable and non-dutiable overseas goods under the following circumstances:

• Direct imports into Singapore
• Imports released from Zero-GST/Licensed warehouses for local consumption

In the fourth edition, paragraphs 7.2(a) “Application process for IGDS” and 8.4 “Renewal of IGDS” were amended to reflect the new process for businesses with ACAP status where the “ASK: Declaration Form on Completing Annual Review & Voluntary Disclosure of Errors” is not required if a Post ACAP Review (PAR) is performed and the “PAR Declaration” form (GST F28) is submitted. Similarly, if businesses have successfully applied to participate in ACAP to be performed by an independent ACAP Reviewer, the certified ASK declaration form will not be required, unless the ACAP participation is subsequently withdrawn or there is failure to obtain ACAP status.

The third edition was published on 18 September 2015.

For further details, please refer to the IRAS’s website.

Source: This article was extracted from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) website. Visit http://www.iras.gov.sg for more information.