29 August 2016

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has clarified that more than 98% of the GST refund claims are refunded within 30 days of receipt of the GST returns.

The clarification was made in response to a letter, “Resolve cash-flow conundrum faced by GST-registered exporting SMEs” by Mr Manmohan Singh in The Business Times, 16 August 2016.

IRAS has also re-iterated that selective audits of GST refund claims are also done as a safeguard against mistakes and fraud. Under the law, IRAS is required to make refunds to claims from businesses under audit within three months of receiving complete information requested by IRAS, failing which IRAS will be required to pay interest to the businesses.

Source: IRAS