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BULLETIN
Issue 5
December 2012
Welcome to the Fifth Issue
of the GST Bulletin!
This biannual newsletter is
published every June and
December. It features key
changes in GST law and tax
treatment on GST issues
commonly faced by GSTregistered
businesses.
C
O
N
T
E
N
T
S
1. GST Updates
GST Exemption of Investment Precious Metals
Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme
Deemed Supply Rules Simplified
2. Knowledge Sharing
Record Keeping
Voluntary Disclosure Programme
3. Frequently Asked Questions
Website: http://www.iras.gov.sg
1
GST Updates
GST Exemption of Investment Precious Metals
New GST e-Tax Guides
To develop a new gold refining and trading cluster in
Singapore, from 1 October 2012, the import and supply
of investment-grade gold and precious metals (IPM)
would be treated as exempt supplies similar to the
supply of financial services.
GST Guide For The Banking
Industry
GST Guide for the Logistics
Service Industry
GST: Guide on Exemption of
Investment Precious Metals
(IPM)
GST: Approved Refiner and
Consolidator Scheme (ARCS)
GST: Pre-Registration Claims on
Goods and Services
By extending GST exemption to the supply of IPM, it
puts the GST treatment for IPM on par with other
actively traded financial assets or instruments, and
thereby strengthening Singapore's position as an
international financial centre and trading hub.
To view the e-Tax Guides, please
visit www.iras.gov.sg > Quick links
> e-Tax Guides > Enhanced
Search for e-Tax Guides
© 2012 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Page 1 of 6

1 GST Updates
GST Exemption of Investment Precious
Metals
Definition of IPM
To qualify for the exemption, the IPM (e.g. a bar, ingot,
coin or wafer) must:
(a) have purity content of at least
99.5% for gold;
99.9% for silver; or
99% for platinum.
(b) capable of being traded on the international bullion market:
For bars, wafers or ingots, they must be produced by an accredited/endorsed refiner
• For gold and silver, a refiner in the current or former “Good Delivery” list of the London Bullion
Market Association (LBMA);
• For platinum, a refiner in the current or former “Good Delivery” list of the London Platinum &
Palladium Market (LPPM); or
• A refiner who intends to be in the “Good Delivery” list of the LBMA (for gold and silver) or LPPM
(for platinum) and is endorsed by the International Enterprise Singapore; and
For coins, it must be prescribed in the IPM Qualifying Coin List prescribed under the Fourth
Schedule to the GST Act and is or was legal tender in its country of origin.
(c) bear a mark or characteristic internationally accepted as guaranteeing its quality; and
(d) trade at a price based on the spot price of the metal it contains.
Importation of IPM
Businesses are required to take up an
Exemption permit via TradeNet®.
Claiming of input tax
Only input tax incurred for the making of taxable
supplies are claimable. As such, for input tax
incurred for the making of both taxable and exempt
supplies, only a portion is claimable (i.e. calculated
based on the percentage of taxable supplies over
total supplies).
For more information on permit declaration,
please refer to Singapore Customs website
www.customs.gov.sg > News and Events >
2012 Circulars > Circular No 12/2012
For more information on exemption of IPM,
please refer to our website at www.iras.gov.sg >
GST: For GST-registered businesses > Charge &
Claim GST: When is GST not charged: Exempt
supplies > Budget 2012 – Exemption of
investment gold, silver and platinum
© 2012 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Page Page 2 of of 66

1 GST Updates
A new GST scheme, the Approved Refiner and Consolidator
Scheme (ARCS), was introduced to complement the GST
exemption of IPM.
It is designed to ease cash flow and compliance of qualifying
refiners and consolidators of IPM in their payment of GST on
import and purchase of raw materials, as well as to relieve input
tax incurred in their refining activities.
To be eligible for ARCS, the person must be a qualifying refiner or
qualifying consolidator.
Benefits of joining ARCS
Approved Refiner:
Enjoys import GST suspension.
Does not need to collect and account for GST on goods supplied to another ARCS person.
However, this does not include the supply of refining activities.
Can claim all the input tax incurred in the course or furtherance of the business, except for
expenses specifically disallowed under Regulations 26 and 27.
Approved Consolidator:
Enjoys import GST suspension.
Does not need to collect and account for GST on goods supplied to an Approved Refiner.
Can claim more input tax than it would have been entitled to under normal GST rules.
• For non-bank, input tax can be claimed in full on expenses incurred for the purchase of goods for conversion into
IPM and making the first sale of newly refined IPM. Residual input tax will be subject to a special apportionment
formula, as set out in the e-Tax Guide.
• For bank, input tax can be claimed in full on the purchase and import of precious metals. Other expenses will be
subject to the fixed input tax recovery rate.
Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme
For more information, please refer to our website at www.iras.gov.sg > GST: For GST-registered businesses
> GST Schemes > Approved Refiner and Consolidator Scheme (ARCS)
Deemed Supply Rules Simplified
When you give away goods for free, you are treated as making a
supply to the recipient.
Prior to
1 October
2012
From
1 October
2012
• A business is required to deem a
supply when goods are given away
for free except when:
• The gift of goods is not more than
$200 and it does not form a series
of gifts; or
• The business is not entitled to input
tax claim on the purchase of goods.
• A business is required to deem a
supply when goods are given away
for free, except when:
• The gift of goods is not more than
$200; or
• No input tax credit has been
allowed* to the business on the
purchase or import of these goods.
Ease GST
compliance cost!
Businesses are no longer
required to track the
number of goods given
free as gifts.
Businesses who do not
wish to account for GST
on the deemed supply of
goods are given the
option not to claim input
tax on the gift of goods
upfront.
*If the GST on the supply of the
goods to you has been suspended
(e.g. goods imported under Major
Exporter Scheme), the GST
suspended is treated as input tax
allowed to you.
© 2012 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Page Page 32 of of 66

2 Knowledge Sharing
Record Keeping
Good record keeping practices are an important
part of your business. It ensures that your tax
declarations are duly supported with the required
documents.
In general, businesses need to keep:
Income records;
Purchases and business expense records;
Other records to support GST declaration; and
Statements and accounting schedules.
For records pertaining to prescribed accounting
periods ending before 1 January 2007, you are
required to keep the records for seven years.
For prescribed accounting periods ending on or
after 1 January 2007, you are required to keep
the records for five years.
For more information, please refer to our website
at www.iras.gov.sg > GST: For GST-registered
businesses > Charge & Claim GST: Price display,
invoicing and record-keeping > Keeping records
IRAS has created a self-assessment tool kit to
help businesses perform a self-review of their
existing record keeping standards and to better
understand the possible areas for improvement.
To download a copy of the toolkit, please
visit our website at www.iras.gov.sg > About
IRAS > Taxpayer Compliance > Record keeping
essentials for businesses > Record keeping selfassessment
toolkit
Accounting Software Assistance Scheme
With effect from 1 April 2012, all businesses can
apply to IDA for a grant under IDA’s iSPRINT
(Packaged Solutions) scheme to defray the costs
of purchasing accounting software that are listed
on IRAS’ Accounting Software Register. For more
information, please refer to our website at
www.iras.gov.sg > Business: IRAS Accounting
Software Register and IDA’s website at
www.ida.gov.sg.
Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP)
We believe that the majority of taxpayers are generally
compliant but occasionally, they may make mistakes in their
GST tax returns due to ignorance or negligence, and without
willful intent to cheat on taxes.
The VDP aims to encourage this group of taxpayers to come
forward voluntarily to get their GST tax matters right.
For the submission of incorrect GST returns, taxpayers can
be penalised for up to 200% of the tax undercharged. Under
the VDP, IRAS will either waive or reduce the penalty for
cases which meet the qualifying conditions.
Voluntarily
Compliant
Unaware
Negligent
Errant
Waived or reduced penalty!
For GST F7 filed within a ‘grace period’ 0% penalty
For GST F7 filed after the ‘grace period’ reduced 5% penalty on tax due
• Grace period is one year from the statutory filing date
© 2012 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Page Page 42 of of 66

2 Knowledge Sharing
Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP)
How to disclose?
Businesses should notify
IRAS of past GST errors
made by submitting a
GST F7 return (Disclosure
of Errors on GST Return)
for the period affected.
You may request for a
GST F7 return (Disclosure
of Errors on GST Return)
from myTax Portal and e-
File the GST F7 return
anytime up to 14 days
from the date of request.
For more information, please refer to our website at www.iras.gov.sg > GST > Compliance Matters > Report
a mistake to qualify for zero penalty or lower penalty
GST Assisted Compliance
Assurance Programme (ACAP)
ACAP is an initiative by IRAS to facilitate
GST-registered businesses in better
managing their GST risks. To further signal
IRAS' commitment to partner businesses to
enhance their tax risk management and
strengthen their GST internal controls, IRAS
will invest another $5 million from 1 April 2012
to co-fund 50% of the fees incurred by GSTregistered
businesses in undertaking ACAP.
This is in addition to the
original budget of $5
million set aside by IRAS
when ACAP was first
launched in April 2011.
For more information on ACAP, please refer to our
website at www.iras.gov.sg > GST > GST
Initiatives to Facilitate Voluntary Compliance >
ACAP
Do you know
You can access the following e-Services via
myTax Portal.
Update Contact Details & Subscribe to
Alert
View Return Status
View Account Summary/Payments
View Correspondence/Notices
Apply for Declaration of Agents for selected
schemes
Apply for GST Registration
Apply for Cancellation of GST Registration
For the above list of e-Services, please visit
www.iras.gov.sg > Quick links > e-Services >
GST
© 2012 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Page 5 of 6

3 Frequently Asked Questions
Q1:
I have filed a GST F7 to correct errors made
in the past return and have made payment for
the GST amount under-accounted or overclaimed
after that. Why do I need to pay a 5%
late payment penalty?
IRAS:
GST due is payable within one month from the
end of the prescribed accounting period. If the
GST F7 is submitted after one month from the
prescribed accounting period and it resulted in
additional tax due, it means that the tax is
already overdue. Therefore, late payment
penalty is imposed on the additional tax.
Q2:
I omitted to include one supplier’s tax invoice
(taxable purchase $2,000 + input tax $140) in
my Q2 GST F5 and one customer’s tax
invoice (standard-rated supply $10,000 +
output tax $700) in my Q3 GST F5. The total
value of supplies declared in my Q2 GST F5
is $123,000 and in my Q3 GST F5 is
$155,000. Must I file a GST F7?
IRAS:
You should file GST F7 to correct errors made in
GST returns. As a concession, you may adjust
for the errors made earlier in your next GST F5 if
you meet both of the following criteria:
• The net GST amount in error for all the
affected prescribed accounting periods is not
more than $1,500.
• The summation of non-GST amounts in error
for (each of) the affected accounting periods is
not more than 5% of the total value of supplies
declared in the submitted GST return (i.e. Box
4).
Although the net GST amount in error of $560
(i.e. $700 – $140) for all affected accounting
periods is not more than $1,500, the non-GST
amount in error for Q3 is more than 5% ($10,000
/ $155,000) of the total value of supplies, you are
required to submit a GST F7 for Q3 to correct the
Q3 errors. For the errors made in Q2, you may
adjust the errors in your next GST F5 as both
criteria for the concession can be met.
Disclaimer
The contents of this bulletin are provided on an “as is” basis without
warranties of any kind. IRAS shall not be liable for any damages,
expenses, costs or loss of any kind however caused as a result of, or
in connection with your use of this bulletin. The information provided
here is to give a better understanding of taxpayer's GST obligations.
As the information may be subject to change, taxpayers may wish to
refer to the IRAS website at www.iras.gov.sg for the latest updates. In
any event, while every effort is made to ensure that the contents
herein are consistent with existing law and practice, members of the
public are advised to refer to the relevant legislation to be certain of
their legal and tax obligations.
Q3:
Can I preserve my records in other forms
(e.g. in electronic format)?
IRAS:
You may preserve your records in other forms
if you comply with the guidelines set in the e-
Tax Guides “Keeping of records in Imaging
Systems” and “Keeping machine-sensible
Records and Electronic Invoicing”. You are not
required to seek approval from the Comptroller
of GST. For a copy of the e-Tax Guides,
please visit our website www.iras.gov.sg >
Quick links > e-Tax Guides > Enhanced
Search for e-Tax Guides.
Q4:
What if I lose some of my records before I
submit GST F5 return?
IRAS:
If you are unable to maintain sufficient
documents to support your input tax claim, you
should not claim input tax.
If you are unable to maintain supporting
documents to prove the export of your goods
or provision of international services, you will
have to treat your sale as a local supply and
account for the GST accordingly.
Penalties may be imposed for failure to
maintain sufficient documents to support your
GST declaration.
Tax Academy of Singapore organises GST courses
for professionals/ businesses who wish to attain basic/
in-depth knowledge of GST.
Upcoming GST Courses organised by Tax Academy:
• Executive Tax Programme Level I (GST) –
February 2013
• Executive Tax Programme Level II (GST) –
February 2013
Subsidies are available for eligible participants:
• 50% IRAS Subsidy – For all SME Tax Agents and
In-house Tax Professionals
• 15% ICPAS Subsidy – For ICPAS members
For more information, please visit
www.taxacademy.sg.
© 2012 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Page 6 of 6