Summary of Responses to Public Consultation on the Draft Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018

1. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) invited the public to provide feedback on the draft Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018 from 28 June to 18 July 2018¹. The draft Bill proposes: legislative amendments to effect tax changes announced in Budget 2018; changes arising from the periodic review of the GST system to ease business compliance and clarify existing legislation; as well as changes to strengthen law enforcement.

2. The feedback received mostly pertained to the following tax changes: 

• Introducing GST on imported services by way of Reverse Charge and an Overseas Vendor Registration regime

• Enhancing the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)’s powers to investigate tax crimes 

• Countering unauthorised GST collection 

Responses to common feedback are highlighted in Annex A (275 KB).

3. Of the 70 suggestions received, 47 are accepted and revisions are accordingly made to the draft text of the Bill. The remaining suggestions are not accepted, as they are inconsistent either with the policy objectives of the proposed legislative changes or with legislative drafting conventions.

4. MOF would like to thank all individuals and organisations who have taken the time and effort to provide their input.

Issued by: 
Ministry of Finance
Singapore
27 September 2018

^[1] Please refer to the earlier press release issued on 28 June 2018 for the public consultation documents on the draft Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018.