10 August 2013

The Ministry of Finance is conducting a public consultation on the draft GST (Amendment) Bill 2013 from 5 to 25 August 2013.

The proposed amendments to existing tax policies and tax administration comprise:

(a) The Comptroller of GST and authorised persons may confiscate goods and arrest persons in cases where Tourist Refund Scheme fraud is suspected;

(b) When there is a change of local agent between the time of import and the subsequent supply of goods, the new local agent is liable for GST;

(c) The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) may release anonymised information to Government and Statutory Boards for statistical or research purposes, or disclose information concerning professional misconduct to the relevant professional body for their investigation;

(d) If a person, who had been permitted under the Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme to buy goods without GST, was subsequently found to be ineligible for the benefit, he has to pay back the GST; and

(e) The term “refine”, in the Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme, includes casting precious metals into a different form.

Additionally, the Bill includes the following non-tax policy changes:

(a) IRAS may share information with the Commercial Affairs Department and the Singapore Police Force for investigations relating to money laundering of tax crimes proceeds without a court order.

(b) The tax authority may offset outstanding taxes from Government payments to the taxpayer under any law, contract or scheme.

For full details, please refer to the Ministry of Finance’s website or the REACH consultation portal.

Source: Ministry of Finance