Sale and disposal of business assets

Key requirements

A paid disposal is taxed on consideration, generally at the earlier of invoice or receipt; for non-residential property, delivery or handover is also relevant. A free transfer of an asset with market value can require tax on its open market value at transfer. Exceptions include cost no more than S$200, no input tax claimed, or no market value. To treat used business assets as valueless under the stated concession, they must be written off, actually disposed of rather than passed on for further use, and supported by disposal or destruction evidence. A write-off alone is insufficient. An asset bought under the former 8% rate and gifted while the rate is 9% uses the prevailing rate on the current deemed supply. Keep the disposal date, valuation and evidence with the GST records.