1 Aim
1.1 The Minister for Finance announced in Budget 2021 that GST will apply to imported low-value goods in respect of business-to-consumer (“B2C”) transactions by way of extending the overseas vendor registration regime with effect from 1 Jan 2023. This will achieve parity in GST treatment for all low-value goods consumed in Singapore regardless of whether they are procured from overseas or locally.
1.2 This guide explains the features of the overseas vendor registration regime for imported low-value goods (“LVG”), and the related GST registration and
reporting rules. It also covers the compliance guidelines, as well as the transitional rules applicable to transactions spanning the implementation of the registration regime on 1 Jan 2023.
1.3 You should read this guide if you are:
(i) A local or overseas supplier making sales of LVG to customers in Singapore;
(ii) A local or overseas operator of an electronic marketplace supplying LVG to Singapore, on behalf of local and overseas suppliers, through your marketplace;
(iii) A local or overseas redeliverer delivering or facilitating the delivery of LVG to Singapore, by providing or facilitating the purchase or the use of an address outside Singapore;
(iv) A transporter (e.g., air express couriers, air couriers and forwarding companies) providing transportation and import clearance services for LVG delivered to recipients in Singapore; or
(v) A customer in Singapore making purchases of LVG from suppliers and electronic marketplaces, or through redeliverers.
2 At a Glance
2.1 Under the overseas vendor registration regime, any supplier belonging outside Singapore that has a global turnover exceeding S$1 million and makes B2C supplies of LVG and remote services to customers in Singapore exceeding S$100,000 is required to register, charge and account for GST
2.2 Under certain conditions, a local or overseas operator of electronic marketplaces or redeliverer may also be regarded as the supplier of the LVG made by the suppliers through these marketplaces or redeliverers. In such cases, the operators and redeliverers are required to register, charge and account for GST on these supplies, instead of the suppliers.
2.3 Registered OVR Vendors (i.e., suppliers, electronic marketplace operators and redeliverers) must duly charge GST on their supplies of LVG, if their customer is not GST-registered. As such, unless the customer provides his GST registration number, the OVR Vendors must charge and account for GST on the supplies made.
2.4 OVR Vendors should not charge GST on supplies of LVG made to GSTregistered customers that have provided their GST registration numbers. Instead, the GST-registered customers will perform reverse charge on these overseas purchases if they fall within the scope of reverse charge.
2.5 In the event where GST is wrongly charged by the OVR Vendors to GSTregistered customers, the customers should contact the OVR Vendors to obtain a refund instead of making an input tax claim on the purchase.
2.6 To minimise extraterritorial compliance burden, overseas OVR Vendors will be registered under a pay-only regime, with simplified registration and
reporting requirements. Under this regime, our local rules relating to taxinvoicing and GST-inclusive price display requirements will also not be imposed. The current penalty regime that applies to local taxable persons will similarly apply to the overseas OVR Vendors.
2.7 For supplies of LVG that span 1 Jan 2023, there are rules that ascertain whether and to what extent the LVG are subject to tax, and when the tax has to be accounted.
Source: gov.sg
