Scope, implementation and the three different values
The fifth edition dated 30 January 2026 covers suppliers, electronic marketplaces, redeliverers, transporters and Singapore customers. OVR began with imported digital services in 2020 and expanded to LVG and remotely supplied non-digital services on 1 January 2023. Distinguish the item’s entry value deciding LVG status, the whole consignment’s Customs import value deciding border relief, and the supply value on which sale-stage GST is calculated. They are not interchangeable S$400 exemptions. Background wording describing previously untaxed LVG is historical, rather than the post-2023 rule.
The four LVG conditions at point of sale
Goods must be non-dutiable, or have Customs or excise duty waived under Customs Act section 11; not GST-exempt; outside Singapore and destined by air or post to Singapore customs territory; and valued at no more than S$400 at sale. Intoxicating liquor and tobacco are outside LVG. Point of sale is order confirmation or another time agreed with the Comptroller, distinct from the GST time of supply. A qualifying item supplied by a registered vendor to a customer not registered in Singapore attracts GST.
Entry value normally excludes delivery, tax and duty
Use sales price excluding charged transport and insurance from overseas to Singapore, GST and Customs duties to decide the S$400 entry threshold. However, supply value normally includes ancillary delivery and insurance fees. Example 1a lists a dress at S$420 with explicitly separated delivery/insurance S$25: entry value S$395 qualifies, while GST is charged on supply value S$420. An item can therefore have a taxable supply amount above S$400 and still be LVG.
Electing to use import value instead
Vendors able to determine transport and insurance at sale may submit the Election form for LVG to use import value instead of sales value for the entry test. Import value includes CIF, Customs duty, commissions and incidental charges under section 18. Once the form is submitted, they may use it. The election changes classification value, not the rule to calculate GST on supply value. Example 1b has racquet price S$330 and elected import value S$380, qualifying as LVG and taxed on its S$380 supply value.
Local sellers holding stock overseas
A local supplier’s direct B2C LVG sales from overseas stock are taxable under this regime. If registered, charge GST; if not, include those direct sales in domestic taxable turnover. Sales through a marketplace deemed the supplier are treated differently, with that platform responsible. A registered legal entity with Singapore and overseas branches must account for B2C LVG supplied by its overseas establishments too. Overseas location of stock alone no longer makes every direct consumer sale out of scope.
When a marketplace is the deemed supplier
Any one of five triggers is sufficient: authorising the customer charge; authorising delivery; setting supply terms; customer documentation showing the marketplace rather than merchant as supplier; or contractual agreement that the platform bears GST. Authorising a charge includes initiating payment through another processor without receiving funds. Delivery includes approval or instructions to deliver. Terms can include price influence, mandated payment or shipping methods, customer care or ownership of supply-related customer data. Only where none is met can the platform avoid deemed-supplier status. Pure payment processors and internet providers are excluded from the marketplace definition.
Platform responsibility and the two deemed supplies
A registered deemed-supplier marketplace taxes all underlying local and overseas sellers’ B2C LVG, even if those sellers are unregistered. Non-LVG and domestic goods remain the registered underlying seller’s responsibility where taxable. LVG has two deemed supplies: seller to platform at the consumer selling price, then platform to customer. The first is out of scope because goods are overseas, and neither deemed sale nor deemed purchase is reported in GST returns. Eligible directly related input tax may still be recovered under normal conditions; an unregistered seller excludes that deemed sale when testing registration.
Redeliverers and their priority conditions
A redeliverer offers an overseas forwarding address or purchase assistance as well as delivery to Singapore; a general forwarder offering neither address nor purchase facilitation is excluded. It is deemed supplier only if no marketplace is already deemed supplier, the original seller does not arrange Singapore delivery, and the redeliverer facilitates that delivery plus address use or purchase. “Ship for me” and “buy for me” arrangements meet these functions when conditions hold. The original seller may not know the Singapore destination because it receives an overseas address.
Overseas registration: both thresholds must be exceeded
An overseas vendor’s global turnover of supplies that would be taxable in Singapore must exceed S$1 million and its Singapore B2C LVG plus remote services exceed S$100,000. Apply calendar-year retrospective or reasonably expected next-12-month prospective tests. The retrospective obligation can be avoided with documented certainty that a relevant threshold will not be exceeded next calendar year because of specific circumstances. Platforms and redeliverers include underlying supplies they are deemed to make, not merely commission; global turnover includes worldwide own taxable-equivalent supplies. An overseas seller making only LVG via a qualifying deemed-supplier intermediary is not liable on those supplies itself.
Registration examples 2 and 3: overseas intermediaries
Example 2’s overseas marketplace has S$3 million global turnover; underlying Singapore LVG S$60,000, own LVG S$30,000 and remote support/commission services to unregistered Singapore sellers S$15,000 total S$105,000. It exceeds both thresholds. Example 3’s overseas redeliverer has global S$5 million and deemed B2C Singapore goods S$1.2 million, also exceeding both. Counting only the platform commission or redeliverer’s handling fee would miss the goods value included in the test.
Local registration and examples 4 to 6
Local vendors use the domestic S$1 million combined-turnover test; there is no separate S$100,000 Singapore-sales limb. Include direct LVG, platforms’ or redeliverers’ underlying LVG, appropriate marketplace remote services and other standard/zero-rated supplies. Example 4’s platform S$930,000 own turnover plus S$90,000 goods equals S$1.02 million. Example 5’s redeliverer S$850,000 fees plus S$200,000 goods equals S$1.05 million. Example 6’s Singapore retailer dispatching China stock has S$800,000 direct LVG plus S$400,000 local marketing services, S$1.2 million. All must register.
Notification and effective registration dates
Apply within 30 days after the relevant calendar-year end for retrospective liability or within 30 days of a prospective forecast. Retrospective effective registration is the day after the end of the month following the month containing day 30; liability on 31 December 2022 meant application by 30 January 2023 and registration 1 March 2023. For prospective liability from January 2023 before July 2025, registration is day 31 after forecast; the 15 January 2023 example registers 15 February. For liability arising on or after 1 July 2025, registration is two months after forecast: 2 September 2025 means 2 November. The application deadline remains 30 days, not two months. The approval notification supplies the actual GST number and effective date.
The historical 2022 rollout and examples 7 and 8
For forecasts made before 2023, the relevant forward period was January–December 2023. Liability by 23 September 2022 required application 1 October and registration 1 January 2023; liability 24 September–31 December 2022 required application by 31 January 2023 and registration 1 February or earlier. In example 7, two overseas firms each had actual Singapore LVG S$200,000 at December 2022; expected S$300,000 required registration, but substantiated expected S$50,000 did not, assuming global turnover exceeds S$1 million. Example 8’s September 20 and 24 forecasts of S$300,000 have the two historical deadlines; S$50,000 does not cross the second limb. These dates explain rollout, not current application deadlines.
Voluntary registration and cancellation
Below-threshold overseas vendors may apply voluntarily, substantiating an active business and actual or firm intended taxable-equivalent supplies and B2C LVG direct or through them. Approved voluntary registration lasts at least two years, with possible additional conditions such as guarantee. Cancellation may be sought with evidence that next-12-month global turnover is S$1 million or less, or Singapore B2C LVG/remote services S$100,000 or less, and the voluntary minimum period has been met. Forecasts need documentation; falling below one threshold does not automatically cancel registration.
Pay-only application and normal-regime alternative
The simplified overseas pay-only regime disallows ordinary Singapore input-tax claims. Apply online with a director, partner or proprietor-signed declaration and an incorporation certificate translated officially into English and notarised, identifying entity, incorporation date and country. Normally no local agent or registration guarantee is required, except possible voluntary conditions. A local agent may be appointed voluntarily. Overseas vendors incurring Singapore GST on purchases may instead choose full registration, weighing input recovery against normal compliance duties. Pay-only registration still requires GST on all applicable taxable supplies, including local establishments’ supplies.
Pay-only group registration: all requirements
Every proposed member must already be individually registered under pay-only. Each must have at least one qualifying attribute: turnover at least S$1 million, stock-exchange listing, subsidiary of such an entity, or venture-capital finance from such an entity. The representative appoints a section 33(1) local agent; the group also appoints a Singpass holder as GST Corppass administrator. One member must control the others, one non-member control all, or non-member individuals in partnership control all. Corporate control concerns board composition, over half voting power or over half issued non-preference capital. Request the group form in writing; approval may be refused to protect revenue.
Quarterly filing, payment and error adjustments
Pay-only vendors report relevant supplies and collected GST quarterly using simplified fields, e-file and pay electronically within one month of period end. Telegraphic transfers should be sent at least a week before the deadline. Normally correct errors in the next return; significant errors can instead be addressed by a written request to adjust an existing return with reasons. Upward adjustments concerning sales more than a year from the statutory filing deadline require written notice, with late-payment penalties applicable. These pay-only rules should not be replaced by unrelated full-regime correction assumptions.
Credits, bad debt and five-year records
Where refunded past-sale tax or credit notes exceed current output tax, negative tax is held as credit against future periods, or may be remitted as a refund with approval if the vendor bears charges. This is not ordinary input-tax entitlement. For unpaid bad debts, complete and retain the eligibility self-review checklist and claim Box 11 only if all conditions hold; Box 7 populates from it. Keep sales listings, invoices where issued, payment proof and customer data for at least five years, including customer GST numbers even when not printed. Simplified invoice/price concessions apply to LVG/remote services, not local taxable goods supplies.
Normal-regime invoicing and checkout prices
Normal-regime vendors follow ordinary invoices and record rules; a platform or redeliverer’s LVG receipt identifies that intermediary’s GST number. GST-inclusive prices must be at least as prominent as exclusive prices. To facilitate multi-jurisdiction websites, normal-regime OVR vendors may show Singapore GST-inclusive prices only at checkout. The exception concerns the location of price display, not permission to omit GST or keep inadequate sales records.
Double-taxation examples 9 and 10
Bundling, exchange-rate differences and CIF-versus-sales valuation can produce border tax after sale GST. Example 9’s bag is S$398 at sale but S$402 at border FX. Example 10’s shoes are S$390 plus S$35 transport/insurance, so sale entry qualifies but CIF S$425 exceeds import relief. These do not invalidate the original LVG classification. Pass item-level sale-tax information through the logistics chain to prevent repeat collection; segregating GST-paid and other goods can help where feasible.
How GST data reach Customs
Transmit the vendor GST number plus GST amount or each item’s paid indicator in the commercial document. For air-express delivery, put the number in ACCESS before physical clearance; for air couriers, in the parcel summary or TradeNet permit. Postal parcels show both details in CN22/CN23 address field and/or the external invoice or commercial document; controlled postal goods use required TradeNet permits. Timely prescribed data prevents border GST on already taxed LVG; late or omitted data triggers import GST unless relief applies. A registration number alone is not complete item-tax information.
Mandatory reimbursement after double taxation
If the customer proves import tax with an air-express tax invoice or permit notification, import permit or SingPost payment receipt, the vendor must reimburse sale-stage GST. It may adjust its next return if it had already accounted for that GST, retaining proof of refund to the customer. Do not recover the same tax while withholding the customer refund. The logistics FAQ addresses further Customs assessment routes if reimbursement fails; this section establishes the vendor’s direct obligation.
Supplier belonging and customer delivery evidence
A vendor belongs in Singapore if only its business/fixed establishment is there, if its Singapore establishment is most directly concerned where establishments exist in several countries, or—without establishments—its usual residence or incorporation is there. This decides registration thresholds, not whether an underlying local or foreign seller’s B2C LVG is taxable. Goods outside Singapore at sale and actually sent to the customer’s Singapore shipping address meet the delivery test. Example 11’s traveller buying a S$100 China-stock shirt for home delivery is still a Singapore LVG transaction.
Marketplace location proxies and conflicting information
Where physical goods location is unknown, a platform may use listing location, supplier billing address, supplier phone country code or fixed-line location, and bank details. When indicators conflict, treat goods as overseas, considering all available evidence: a Singapore bill-to address and bank account do not outweigh a listing that explicitly ships from overseas. These proxies concern the goods’ location, not proof of the customer’s registration.
Customer registration: default B2C and wrong-tax refunds
Treat the customer as unregistered unless it provides a GST number; the vendor may rely on it without mandatory validation but must retain it for audit. Exceptional alternative identification requires written approval. An already registered business wrongly taxed because it omitted its number seeks vendor refund, not input credit—even with a valid invoice, as Example 12 confirms for an employee purchase. The vendor issues a credit note or equivalent and reduces refunded output tax. Unregistered customers and private purchases must not misuse a business GST number.
Reverse charge and later customer registration
A registered RC business applies RC unless LVG is directly attributable to taxable supplies; that exclusion is unavailable where a fixed recovery rate or special formula is prescribed for all inputs. Groups lacking full input recovery also apply relevant RC rules. Different from wrongly taxing an already registered buyer, FAQ 21.7 covers a buyer unregistered at supply but registered before import: sale GST was correctly charged, no vendor refund is required, and pre-registration input recovery may be available if its own conditions hold. Preserve that distinction.
Normal and approved altered time of supply
Supply time is earlier of payment and invoice or equivalent bill. Example 13 invoice 22 March 2023, payment 23 March and delivery 28 March belongs to March quarter. Pay-only vendors may seek written approval to change time earlier or later, no more than one accounting period later. Example 14 payment 31 March and dispatch 1 April ordinarily March; approved dispatch-date reporting moves it to June quarter. Order confirmation used for LVG classification is not automatically the GST accounting date.
Transactions crossing registration or deregistration
Where invoice and payment occur after registration, GST normally applies; at a customer’s request the vendor may instead rely on proved pre-registration removal or availability and not charge that pre-registration supply. Keep shipment proof. At deregistration, goods already removed or made available and not covered by accounted invoices or payments are treated as supplied immediately before deregistration. Thus deregistering before collecting the balance does not erase tax on goods already supplied.
Supply value: money, in-kind consideration and inclusive prices
For monetary sales, value plus GST equals total consideration, including incidental transport/insurance charges; free delivery adds no separate amount. Example 15 dress S$200 plus S$30 fees yields S$230, tax S$20.70 and payment S$250.70. If consideration is non-monetary or absent, use open-market value. Example 16 products given for S$50 plus promotion services valued S$100 have OMV S$150 and GST S$13.50. Example 17 inclusive mouse price S$40 yields GST S$3.30 at 9/109 and net S$36.70.
Redeliverer fees and mixed-goods shipping apportionment
A deemed-supplier redeliverer cannot zero-rate international transport/insurance related to its own LVG supply under the otherwise relevant transport provisions. Its freight, insurance and admin fees are standard-rated with the goods. Example 18 lamp S$120 plus redelivery fees S$20 yields S$140 and tax S$12.60. For mixed LVG and non-LVG, apportion one transport fee fairly using weight, volumetric weight or value; only the LVG-related portion is sale-taxed here. No prior approval is needed for a fair consistent proxy, chosen for circumstances rather than the desired tax result.
Vendor-funded discounts: examples 19a and 19b
Discounts wholly borne by the vendor or underlying seller reduce entry sales value and relevant supply value; allocate multi-item discounts consistently with usual accounting. Example 19a headset S$200 plus S$5 delivery less 10% product discount has entry S$180, supply S$185 and tax S$16.65. Watch S$350 plus S$10 delivery less S$5 shipping voucher has entry S$350, supply S$355 and tax S$31.95. Example 19b dress S$80 and watch S$500, S$12 watch-only and shared S$15+S$20 discounts, plus S$10 shipment, apportioned by listed values S$80/S$580 and S$500/S$580, produce dress entry S$75.17, watch entry S$457.83, dress taxable supply S$76.55 and GST S$6.89; watch is not LVG.
Third-party discounts and returned goods
A bank-funded discount reimbursed to the vendor does not reduce entry or supply value. Example 19c diapers S$70 plus S$2 shipment, less bank voucher S$5 reimbursed by the bank, still has entry S$70, supply S$72 and GST S$6.48. For returned defective goods, issue a credit note or equivalent and retain refund records. Adjust Boxes 1 and 6 in the credit-note period to the extent the original tax was correctly accounted for. Refunds cannot reduce output tax never originally accounted for.
Foreign currency: classify at sale but choose a reporting date
Convert entry value with an acceptable rate at sale. For GST accounting, choose an acceptable rate at supply, period end or filing date, applied consistently for at least one year from the end of the filing period where first chosen. Example 20a US$230 goods at US$0.75 per S$1 gives entry S$306.67. Example 20b adds US$10 shipment, collects GST US$21.60 on US$240, but with elected period-end rate US$0.72 per S$1 reports S$30 GST. In-house rates from unlisted sources require written approval under the exchange-rate guide.
Customer-declared values through redeliverers
A deemed-supplier redeliverer is responsible for correct entry and supply values. Prefer the seller’s commercial invoice or receipt; if relying on a customer declaration, verify against the invoice, receipt, product link or other relevant customer-provided evidence. Customer assertion does not transfer responsibility or authorise undervaluing items to fit the threshold. Retain the source of values so the goods and redelivery fees can be reconciled.
Multiple goods normally use per-item classification
Independently value each item, regardless of consolidated or separate shipment. Example 21’s five S$90 shirts are each LVG and sale-taxable, despite combined goods price S$450. Border aggregation remains a different test. This prevents a vendor from avoiding LVG sale-stage tax merely by bundling ordinary separate items without the specific consignment election.
Per-consignment election: all four conditions
A vendor may elect per-consignment classification only with full supply/logistics oversight; a sale-time process determining one consignment; documented process agreed with underlying sellers for platforms; and ability to adjust GST for later changes in price, quantity or weight. Oversight means acting as transporter or appointing one that will not repackage; if the seller appoints transport, the marketplace agrees the process with every seller and ensures single shipment. Submit the LVG election form once all conditions hold. Same importer and same flight are one Customs consignment even with separate documents. Example 22’s elected S$350 suit plus S$190 shirt totals S$540, no sale GST but border tax applies.
Approved sea and land exception
Vendors genuinely unable to know transport mode at sale may apply to tax LVG by sea and land as well. State the difficulty in the prescribed application; examples are third-party seller fulfilment or post-sale confirmation of transport. Approval allows all shipment modes, not a unilateral election. Pass the vendor GST number and item tax-paid data through documents and include the approved number in TradeNet; missing information can cause border tax. Example 23’s approved platform taxes the S$350 watch whichever mode the seller later uses.
Pre-2023 invoices: the lower-of transitional rule
For invoices before 1 January 2023, tax the lower of payments received on/after that date and goods value removed or made available on/after that date. Full payment or full availability before the date means no tax. If both sides are split, use the lower post-date portion with reasonable costing or pricing evidence. Invoices before 16 February 2021 fall outside these transitional rules with no GST. Report in the period containing the later of implementation and effective registration. This historical implementation rule is separate from subsequent rate-change rules.
Post-2023 invoices: default and optional election
Invoices on/after 1 January 2023 normally tax the supply under ordinary timing, except payments before implementation remain outside scope: full earlier payment means no tax; part earlier payment leaves the post-date payment taxable. Alternatively elect the lower of post-date payments and post-date goods availability, without a form or prior approval, while retaining timing evidence. Thus fully pre-date available goods can become non-taxable under the election even if invoiced and paid later. Do not misread “or” in the prose as choosing the higher amount: Annex C expressly confirms the lower amount.
Transitional examples 24 to 26
Example 24 invoices and receives 50% payment on 30 December 2021, gets the balance 2 January 2023 and supplies goods 4 January: only the remaining payment is taxed, in the first return. Example 25 invoices and supplies part of a bicycle/gear package in December 2021, receives payment 2 January 2023 and supplies missing helmet and saddlebag 10 January: only their reasonably allocated lower value is taxed. Example 26 full payment 30 December 2021, invoice 2 January 2023 and goods 4 January is wholly outside the new tax because payment occurred before implementation.
Enforcement and the permanent-establishment question
Overseas vendors face the domestic compliance regime for late registration, non/late filing, incorrect returns, non/late payment, poor records and other GST duties. The guide gives categories rather than universal penalty amounts. Customer false registration claims are offences. GST registration alone does not determine an income-tax permanent establishment; domestic income-tax law and relevant DTAs decide PE separately. This separation does not mean an overseas business can ignore actual Singapore activities.
Other FAQs: own forwarder and multiple platforms
If a customer appoints its own forwarder and the original seller or platform does not know the Singapore destination, the source says that seller/platform need not account for LVG tax. A qualifying redeliverer may instead be deemed supplier. With multiple marketplaces, the first operator authorising a charge or receiving customer payment is deemed supplier. All registered overseas vendors account for other taxable local goods, remote services and establishment supplies too. These exceptions and priority rules avoid duplicate supplier collection, not all GST obligations.
Annex A and B: responsibility and branch checks
Annex A assigns direct sales to sellers, marketplace sales to qualifying platforms and redelivery to qualifying redeliverers regardless of underlying seller location. Local seller turnover includes direct LVG, local goods sold directly or through platforms and other taxable supplies, but excludes out-of-scope deemed overseas-stock sales to platforms. Local intermediaries include underlying covered goods and relevant remote services. Overseas global tests include own taxable-equivalent activity and deemed goods; Singapore thresholds include applicable B2C goods/services. Annex B separately flags local entities without direct in-scope activity but with overseas establishments: registered entities account for their branch LVG, and unregistered entities assess the illustrated global/Singapore thresholds. Its no-liability branch still requires continued monitoring.
Annex C checklist and edition dates
The two full matrices below preserve all payment/availability combinations, with the optional lower-of election distinguished for post-date invoices. The source’s revised examples 15–20 use 9% since January 2024; historical January 2023 transitional cases retain their own implementation context. July 2025 changed prospective effective registration to two months; January 2026 records editorial changes. Do not apply current 9% mechanically to every historical example or confuse three separate elections: import-value classification, per-consignment classification and transitional lower-of treatment.
| Payment relative to 1 Jan 2023 | Goods availability | Taxable extent: invoice before date |
|---|---|---|
| Before | Before | No |
| Before | Split before/on-after | No |
| Before | On/after | No |
| Split before/on-after | Before | No |
| On/after | Before | No |
| On/after | Split before/on-after | Post-date goods only |
| Split before/on-after | On/after | Post-date payments only |
| Split before/on-after | Split before/on-after | Lower post-date payment/goods |
| On/after | On/after | Entire supply |
| Payment relative to 1 Jan 2023 | Goods availability | Default: invoice on/after date | Optional lower-of election |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before | Before | No | No |
| Before | Split before/on-after | No | No |
| Before | On/after | No | No |
| Split before/on-after | Before | Post-date payment | No |
| Split before/on-after | Split before/on-after | Post-date payment | Lower post-date payment/goods |
| Split before/on-after | On/after | Post-date payment | Post-date payment |
| On/after | Before | Entire supply | No |
| On/after | Split before/on-after | Entire supply | Post-date goods only |
| On/after | On/after | Entire supply | Entire supply |
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
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