11 February 2015

On 9 February 2015, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) issued an e-Tax Guide, “GST Guide for Retailers participating in the Tourist Refund Scheme (4th Edition)”.

This e-tax Guide provides details on the features and refund mechanism of the Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS). This includes the conditions that retailers participating in the eTRS must comply with.

Under the eTRS, tourists may obtain a refund of GST on goods purchased from GST-registered retailers who participate in the scheme.

The refund is allowed only on goods brought out of Singapore via Changi International Airport or Seletar Airport, and on an international cruise (excluding cruise-to-nowhere, round-trip cruise and regional ferry) that departs from Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (MBCCS) and International Passenger Terminal at Harbourfront Centre, within two months from the date of purchase and subject to the tourists’ eligibility and conditions of the scheme.

This is a voluntary scheme. Retailers who wish to participate in the scheme can either engage the services of a CRA or operate the scheme on their own as Independent Retailer (IR). For information on the participation conditions under eTRS, retailers can refer to the e-tax guide: GST Guide on the Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS) on IRAS website.

The updates made in this edition of the e-Tax Guide relate to the amendment of paragraph 9.3.1 on the claiming of eTRS refund.

The previous edition was published on 14 November 2014.

For full details, please refer the e-Tax Guide on the IRAS website.

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