1. Vijay Kumar Muvva, a former Group Executive Director of Ensoft Consulting Pte Ltd (“Ensoft”), was convicted and jailed for unauthorised collection of GST and also for the failure to notify the Comptroller of Ensoft’s liability to register for GST.
2. It is a serious offence for businesses that are not GST-registered to charge and collect GST from their customers. On conviction, offenders shall pay a penalty equal to three (3) times the amount which was collected or attempted to be collected, and also be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
3. The public can check if a business is registered for GST on IRAS’ website (www.iras.gov.sg) using the business name or business registration number.
4. All businesses, including individuals deriving income from their trade, profession or vocation, should closely monitor their income on a calendar year basis to assess if they need to register for GST. If their 12-month taxable turnover has exceeded $1 million at the end of the calendar year, they will be required to apply for GST registration by 30 Jan of the following year. They will be registered for GST on 1 Mar. Additionally, if at any point in time, they can reasonably expect their taxable turnover to be more than $1 million in the next 12 months, they must register for GST within 30 days from the date of their forecast. They will be registered on the 31st day from the forecast date.
5. Any business that fails to register for GST is still required to pay GST on all their past transactions from the date the business became liable for GST registration. GST is payable even if the amount was not collected from customers. In addition, failure to register for GST is an offence and businesses may be required to pay 10% of the GST due as a penalty, and a fine of up to $10,000.
6. IRAS conducts audits to identify non-compliance with GST laws, including checks on whether businesses charge and collect GST correctly.
7. Businesses or individuals are encouraged to immediately engage professional accounting firm like PL Biz Consulting to check whether there are liable to register for GST. PL Biz Consulting will try to assist businesses to fully comply with IRAS GST requirements.
8. Please contact us if you need any assistance. At PL Biz, we have the right people and expertise to help guide and explain to you on how to go about complying with IRAS GST requirements..
