1. According to IRAS, a business must register for GST if their taxable turnover is more than $1 million at the end of the calendar year (retrospective view) or expected to be more than $1 million in the next 12 months (prospective view).
2. Under retrospective view, if your business taxable turnover at the end of the calendar year is more than $1 million, your business must register for GST by 30 Jan. IRAS will register you for GST on 1 Mar.
3. Under prospective view, at any point in time, if you can reasonably expect your taxable turnover to be more than $1 million in the next 12 months, you must register for GST within 30 days from the date of your forecast. Your business will be registered on the 31st day from the forecast date.
4. There are serious consequences for late registration for GST. Your date of GST registration will be backdated to the date you were liable for registration. You will also have to account for and pay GST on your past sales and face a fine of up to $10,000 and a penalty equal to 10% of the GST due.
5. The methods used to compute your business taxable turnover depends on whether your business is a sole-proprietorship, a partnership, or a private limited company.
6. If your business is a sole-proprietorship, you need to combine the revenue of all your sole-proprietorship businesses (including rental of commercial properties, and rental of furniture & fittings) and also those revenue earned from your trade, profession or vocation.
7. For a company, you need to combine the revenue of that single company (including rental of commercial properties, and rental of furniture & fittings) plus the revenue of all sole-proprietorship businesses that it owns.
8. Please contact us if you need any assistance or if you are not sure on whether your business is liable to register for GST. At PL Biz Consulting Pte Ltd, we have the right people and expertise to help you comply with IRAS GST registration requirements.