Tag: Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (ARCS)

Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2013 [No. S 845/2013] comes into operation on 1 January 2014

On By taxsgIn Goods and Services Tax, Goods and Services Tax Act, Latest Tax News, Legislative Updates

9 January 2014

The Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2013 was published in the Government Gazette, Electronic Edition, on 30 December 2013 and shall come into operation on 1 January 2014. Some of the amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (General) Regulations (Rg 1) are:

  • Regulation 46A (Approved refiner and consolidator scheme) is amended to require the purchaser to repay the GST chargeable on the supply, where the purchaser is ineligible for such a benefit at the time of supply.
  • Regulation 50B (Revocation of approval and recovery of refund made as tax due) is substituted to allow the Comptroller of GST and authorised officers to revoke any approval for a refund under the Tourist Refund Scheme and recover the refund. This applies to approvals for refund granted before, on or after 1 January 2014.
  • A new Division 5 — Seizure, etc., of goods and arrest, etc., of persons is inserted in Part VII: Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS). Under the Division, new Regulations 51 (Seizure, etc., of goods) and 51A (Arrest, etc., of persons) are inserted to allow the Comptroller of GST and authorised officers to seize goods for investigation and prosecution purposes, where TRS fraud is suspected, and arrest without warrant a person suspected to be involved in, or assisting another person in a TRS fraud.

For the full details, please refer to the Singapore Statutes Online.

Source: Government Gazette

MOF seeks public feedback on the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

On By taxsgIn General News, Goods and Services Tax, Latest Tax News

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

IRAS updates e-Tax Guide, ‘GST: Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (Second Edition)’

On By taxsgIn Goods and Services Tax, Latest Tax News

6 May 2013

On 29 April 2013, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) issued an updated version of the e-Tax Guide, ‘GST: Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (2nd Edition)’.

This e-Tax Guide provides details of the Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (ARCS). The scheme is a measure to ease cash flow and compliance of qualifying refiners and consolidators of Investment Precious Metals (IPM) in their payment of GST on import and purchase of raw materials as announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in his 2012 Budget Statement, as well as to relieve input tax incurred in their refining activities. These benefits aim to develop a new IPM refining and trading cluster in Singapore.

This Guide covers the following:

  • Benefits of the ARCS for qualifying refiners and consolidators
  • Eligibility conditions and application procedure for the ARCS for refiners and consolidators, and
  • Responsibilities and reporting requirements under ARCS for approved refiners and consolidators.

With effect from 1 October 2012, the importation and supply of IPM in Singapore are exempt from GST. IPM for GST exemption purposes refers to gold, silver or platinum in the form of a bar, ingot, wafer and coin which meets certain criteria. The supply of IPM for export continues to be zero-rated, provided that the relevant export documents are maintained.

Concurrently from 1 October 2012, the ARCS was introduced. An ARCS person will enjoy the following benefits:

  • GST suspension on importation of goods
  • Waiver of GST payment on goods supplied between ARCS persons, and
  • Special input tax recovery for ARCS persons, as compared to the input tax claims allowable under normal GST rules following the GST exemption of IPM.

To give legislative effect to the scheme, amendments have been made to section 37B of the GST Act and regulation 46A of the GST (General) Regulations.

In this second edition, amendments made to following paragraphs to align with the GST legislation for the ARCS:

  • Giving legislative effect to the scheme (paragraph 2.3)
  • Input tax claims by an Approved Consolidator who is a non-bank (paragraphs 4.21, 4.22, 4.24)
  • Conditions of eligibility for the ARCS for qualifying refiners (paragraph 5.2)
  • Application procedure – submission of documents (paragraph 6.2)
  • Cessation of ACRS (paragraph 11.3).

Source: This article was extracted from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) website.

IRAS issues new e-Tax Guide, “GST: Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (ARCS)”

On By taxsgIn Goods and Services Tax, Latest Tax News

5 September 2012

Published on 3 September 2012, this e-Tax Guide issued by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), provides details of the new “Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (ARCS)”.

The scheme is a measure to ease cash flow and compliance of qualifying refiners and consolidators of “Investment Precious Metals (IPM)” in their payment of GST on import and purchase of raw materials as announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in his 2012 Budget Statement, as well as to relieve input tax incurred in their refining activities.

With effect from 1 October 2012, the importation and supply of IPM in Singapore are exempt from GST. IPM for GST exemption purposes refers to gold, silver or platinum in the form of a bar, ingot, wafer and coin which meets qualifying criteria. The supply of IPM for export continues to be zero-rated, provided that the relevant export documents are maintained.

From 1 October 2012, the ARCS will be introduced. An ARCS person will enjoy the following benefits:

  • GST suspension on importation of goods
  • Waiver of GST payment on goods supplied between ARCS persons, and
  • Special input tax recovery for ARCS persons, as compared to the input tax claims allowable under normal GST rules following the GST exemption of IPM.

To give legislative effect to the scheme, amendments will be made to the GST Act and GST (General) Regulations with effect from 1 October 2012.

The e-Tax Guide covers the following:

  • Benefits of the ARCS for qualifying refiners and consolidators
  • Eligibility conditions and application procedure of the ARCS for refiners and consolidators, and
  • Responsibilities and reporting requirements under ARCS for approved refiners and consolidators.

More details about the ARCS can be found in the IRAS e-Tax Guide.

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

Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 goes through first reading in Parliament

On By taxsgIn e-Gazette, Legislative Updates

15 August 2012

The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill No. 19/2012 was published in the Government Gazette on 13 August 2012. This Bill seeks to amend the Goods and Services Tax Act (Cap. 117A of the 2005 Revised Edition).

The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 incorporates the changes announced in the 2012 Budget Statement to facilitate the development of a gold trading hub Singapore, and to put the GST treatment for investment–grade gold and precious metals on par with other actively traded financial assets such as stocks and bonds. The changes will exempt the import and supply of investment-grade gold and precious metals from GST and introduce a new Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (ARCS) to relieve cash flow for refiners and local consolidators.

It also includes other changes arising from the ongoing review of the GST regime to clarify the existing legislation and to improve administration. These include:

  • extending the scope of GST zero-rating of prescribed financial services relating to goods situated outside Singapore
  • allowing the Comptroller and Minister to set conditions when granting GST remission
  • extending the Temporary Removal Scheme to goods that are removed temporarily from approved warehouses for repairs, and
  • allowing zero-rating of repair services performed on qualified goods outside the Approved Specialised Warehouse.

Once passed, the date of these provisions coming into effect is 1 October 2012, with the exception of sections 5(a) and (d) and 9 which shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 January 2012.

Source: Government Gazette