10 September 2012

The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 was read for the second time in Parliament on 10 September 2012 by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister of State for Finance and Transport.

Key provisions of the Bill are summarised as follows:

A. Budget 2012

• GST exemption for investment-grade gold and precious metals (Clauses 3, 6 and 14 of the Bill and clauses 2, 7, 11, 13 and 15 are consequential amendments to administer the change)
• A new GST scheme introduced for qualifying refiners of precious metals and consolidators of scrap materials for refining (Clauses 4 and 10).

B. Non-budget 2012 GST changes

• The extension of the scope of GST zero-rating of prescribed financial services relating to goods for export (Clause 5(b))
• Allowing the Comptroller and Minister to set conditions when granting remission (Clause 12)
• The extension of the Temporary Removal Scheme to goods removed temporarily from approved warehouses for repairs (Clause 8)
• Allowing GST zero-rating of repair services performed on qualified goods outside of Approved Specialised Warehouse (Clause 5(c))
• Incorporating two sets of technical amendments with no change in policy – the first amendment aligns the general provision on zero-rating of exports and international services with that for the Approved Marine Customers Scheme and Specialised Warehouse Scheme and the other standardises the text used in the different subsections for the Approved Contract Manufacturer & Trader (ACMT) Scheme.

Source: Ministry of Finance