4 January 2013

On 2 January 2013, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (‘IRAS’) issued the ninth edition of the e-Tax Guide, “GST: Major Exporter Scheme”.

Major Exporter Scheme (‘MES’) is a scheme whereby the payment of GST is suspended at the point of importation of goods. MES traders will be allowed to import non-dutiable goods without paying GST to Singapore Customs (‘SC’).

Regulation 45 of the Goods and Services Tax (General) Regulations provides for the suspension of payment by GST-registered persons who qualify for the MES of GST on importation of non-dutiable goods.

GST-registered businesses applying for MES or whose MES status is due for renewal on or after 1 January 2013 will have to submit the Assisted Self-Help Kit (ASK) declaration form “ASK: Declaration Form on Completing Annual Review & Voluntary Disclosure of Errors” (section 3 of ASK) certified by either their own in-house or external tax professionals who are Accredited Tax Practitioners (GST) or Accredited Tax Advisors (GST).

Alternatively, businesses can choose to participate in the GST Assisted Compliance Assurance Programme (‘ACAP’). Successful ACAP applicants do not need to submit the ASK declaration form pending the result of ACAP review and submission of ACAP Report. If businesses subsequently withdraw from participating in ACAP, they are required to perform and submit the ASK declaration form within three months. Businesses who fail to obtain an ACAP status may also be required to submit the ASK declaration form on a case-by-case basis.

In the ninth edition, certain paragraphs have been revised and renumbered, as well as new appendices added as follows:

• Appendix F: Specimen of Letter of Confirmation & Undertaking
• Appendix G: Form R1: Application for Renewal of Major Exporter Scheme.

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