Changes to Goods and Services Tax Act in force from 1 January 2020

22 January 2020

The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act 2019 (“Amendment Act”) was gazetted on 30 December 2019 and came into force on 1 January 2020.

This Amendment Act amends the Goods and Services Tax Act for purposes including the following:

  • Refine the design parameters for goods and services tax (“GST”) on imported services: From 1 January 2020, GST will apply to imported digital services in the context of business-to-consumer (“B2C”) transactions. For business-to-business (“B2B”) supplies of imported services, GST will be applied by way of a Reverse Charge mechanism.
  • Introduce an offence for misrepresentation of information: It will be an offence for a customer to provide false information in relation to purchases of imported services, where such information may be used by overseas suppliers to determine whether GST is chargeable. 
  • Update GST treatment of digital payment tokens: The GST treatment of digital payment tokens will be based on the nature of the underlying transactions.
  • Make changes to the reporting of proceedings and decisions of tax cases by the High Court and Court of Appeal: To align with the principle of open justice and in keeping with international trends, tax proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal will no longer be heard in private by default.
  • Introduce definitions of “accountant” and “advocate and solicitor” for purposes of appeals to the GST Board of Review (“GSTBR”): With this amendment, only a “public accountant” within the meaning of the Accountants Act, or an “advocate and solicitor” within the meaning of the Legal Profession Act, will be allowed to represent a taxpayer before the GSTBR.

Reference materials

The following materials are available on Singapore Statutes Online sso.agc.gov.sg by clicking on the titles below:

 

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