Scope and participation routes
The eighth edition dated 30 January 2026 applies to refund claims made on/after 4 April 2019. GST-registered retailers may voluntarily join electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS) through a Central Refund Agency (CRA) or as IRAS-approved Independent Retailers (IRs). Tourist goods must leave via Changi or Seletar within two months of purchase. Independent participation requires all conditions in the main eTRS guide, including good tax/payment history, adequate internal controls/accounting and payment to the tourist within three months of refund approval. Additional conditions for Specified Retailers override general concessions.
The two agencies listed in this edition
Global Blue Singapore:8 Marina View,#13-04 Asia Square Tower 1,Singapore 018960; telephone+65 6225 6238,fax+65 6225 5773,globalblue.com,[email protected]. Global Tax Free:541 Orchard Road,#12-04/05 Liat Towers,Singapore 238881; telephone+65 6221 7058,fax+65 6221 7379,global-taxfree.com.sg,[email protected]. These are the contact details printed in the source, updated in September 2025, rather than a promise that they never change. Affiliated retailers use their CRA’s procedures.
Tourist eligibility and the three-date pass test
The purchaser must be at least 16 on purchase date, neither Singapore citizen nor permanent resident, and not departing-aircraft crew. They must not be a Specified Person on purchase date, at any time during the immediately preceding three months, or on the airport claim date. Specified Persons include holders of MOM work passes or Letters of Consent, Dependant’s Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass/Plus or Student’s Pass. The work-pass list includes Work/Training Work Permit,S Pass,Employment/Training Employment/Personalised Employment Pass,EntrePass,Work Holiday and Miscellaneous Work Pass. It also includes persons holding MFA ID cards as diplomatic/consular/administrative/technical/service/other foreign-mission staff, international-organisation/representative/trade-office staff, and their spouses/dependent children. A foreign passport alone therefore does not establish eligibility.
Customer spending, evidence and four timing conditions
Spend at least S$100 inclusive of GST; up to three same-day invoices/receipts with the same GST registration number and shop name may be combined. The customer must personally present the original passport and valid ICA e-Visit Pass at purchase; passport copies/images are unacceptable. Request digital capture and an eTRS transaction, apply at an airport kiosk, depart with goods within two months of purchase and within 12 hours after approval, and claim from the approved central refund counter within two months of approval. The IR retailer’s separate three-month payment obligation should not be mistaken for the tourist’s two-month claim limit.
Eligible goods and exclusions
The scheme covers standard-rated goods, not services. Exclude goods wholly/partly consumed locally, goods exported for business/commercial purposes, freight exports and hotel/hostel/boarding-house or similar accommodation. Commercial hand-carried exports may instead qualify for zero-rating with the export guide’s documentary proof; tourist refund is not their route. Eligible-tourist status does not make services refundable.
Electronic transaction data and sale-time duties
Issue a receipt/invoice charging prevailing GST. Explain refund conditions, check eligibility in person, sight the original passport against the person and e-Visit Pass, and digitally capture passport number,nationality and purchases. Required transaction fields include receipt number of at least three digits, issue date/time,gross amount and goods category. Do not reuse the same receipt number in multiple eTRS transactions within seven days. Mark the receipt that an eTRS transaction was issued and tell customers to retain receipts/goods for inspection. Only electronic eTRS transactions are issued: no own paper refund forms or TRS cheques. Tourists may register at touristrefund.sg or the eTRS app to check issued transactions, normally visible within 10 minutes, and non-cash refund status.
Past-sale concession and Specified Retailers
Issue at sale time. A general administrative concession permits past sales only with controls confirming the same purchaser, a genuine receipt from the shop/same-name shops, no earlier transaction, and appropriate treatment of returns including verifying no refund and invalidating the old transaction. Specified Retailers may be restricted to sale-time issuance, prominent yes/no issuance marking on every receipt and CCTV recording. Their CRA communicates these conditions; the stricter conditions prevail and the past-sale concession does not apply where excluded.
Airport kiosk and inspection process
The tourist scans the passport,reaffirms eligibility,selects eligible purchases and refund method,and checks Approved/Not Approved. Changi supports card,Alipay or cash; Seletar card or Alipay. Approved cash is collected after immigration in Changi’s departure-transit refund counter with passport; card payment is within 10 days,Alipay immediately. Not Approved requires goods,original receipts,e-Visit Pass and boarding pass/confirmed ticket at Changi Customs Inspection or Seletar ICA counter. Since 4 April 2019 no eTRS tickets are issued; the source retains a historical transition rule for tickets from 4 February–3 April 2019, with missing purchases queried to retailers.
Retailer return boxes and refund claims
Report every eTRS sale as standard-rated Box 1 with output tax Box 6 in the sale period; absorbing GST still requires the prevailing tax fraction rate/(100+rate). The printed 8/108 example is explicitly 2023 historical, not the January 2026 rate. CRA-affiliated retailers do not themselves pay tourists and must not claim eTRS refunds in Box 7 or declare Box 10. Approved IRs can claim refunded amounts in both Box 7 and Box 10 only after accounting output tax, paying the tourist including through an approved CRC within three months of approval, keeping evidence and satisfying all additional conditions.
Handling fees and records
Explain any administrative deduction from the tourist refund at sale time. The approved IR/CRA’s handling fee can be zero-rated under 21(3)(g) where directly connected with exported goods and supplied to a person belonging overseas when performed. IRs keep at least five years of separate eTRS sales/refund accounts,invoice/receipt copies,CCH reports and proof/CRC reports of tourist payments. Affiliated shops keep hard/electronic transaction records or reports under section 46 business-record requirements.
In-person safeguards and purchase identity
Prominently display that the tourist must present the original passport personally. Describe actual goods accurately,including ground-to-powder medicinal products. Phone/online eligibility checks are unacceptable. Do not issue in another home-country person’s name when the tourist buys for them and wants their name on the receipt. Do not issue in a tourist friend’s name for an ineligible buyer purchasing a gift. The eligible visitor must be the purchaser,not merely a name available to support a refund.
Three return-of-goods procedures
Partial returns before a refund claim: confirm with CRA no approval,void old transaction,reissue for remaining goods,refund returned goods including GST,and mark issuance on receipt. All goods returned before claim: confirm no approval,void,and refund all inclusive of GST. All goods returned after the tourist claimed GST: confirm the claim with CRA as needed and refund goods value excluding GST to avoid paying GST twice. The PDF does not prescribe a fourth partial-return-after-claim procedure, so do not invent one.
Contingency and four anti-misuse controls
Use the CRA/IR contingency process only for faulty issuing solution/printer,power/leased-line problems,CRA outage or other technical failures,following prescribed procedures. Maintain the identity of issuing staff and transaction records; reconcile monthly to CRA/CCH/CRC reports; require manager approval for high-value transactions; and have the manager keep any contingency booklet. System failure does not authorise homemade refund forms or unrestricted use of contingency.
Non-compliance and edition history
Breaches can terminate affiliation/participation; managers involved in businesses with serious eTRS lapses may cause a retailer’s exclusion. Ineligible claims and helping fraudulent claims,such as selling receipts,are offences; IRAS can act against complicity or negligent issuance. Independent claims may be denied. The stated conviction penalty is a fine up to S$5,000 and up to six months imprisonment in default of payment—not an unqualified automatic jail sentence. Visitor resources include IRAS’s visitor guide,touristrefund.sg,visitsingapore.com and Customs; retailers enquire through IRAS GST Contact Us. The log covers 2019 specified-retailer controls,2022 e-Visit Pass/eligibility clarification,2023 rate and agency changes,2024 removal of bank cheques and 2025 addresses. It ends September 2025 despite the 2026 eighth-edition cover.
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.
Read the official PDF ↗