What is the GST registration threshold in Singapore?

S$1 million of taxable turnover. You must register if your taxable turnover was more than S$1 million in the last calendar year, or if you can reasonably expect it to be more than S$1 million in the next 12 months. Taxable turnover includes zero-rated sales such as exports, but not exempt sales or the sale of your business assets.

How long do I have to register for GST?

30 days. Under the calendar-year test, apply by 30 January of the year after you went over S$1 million; you're registered from 1 March. Under the 12-month test, apply within 30 days of the date you could reasonably expect to go over it, such as the day you sign a large contract; you're registered from two months after that date.

Can I register for GST voluntarily in Singapore?

Yes. A business below S$1 million can apply to register. You must stay registered for at least two years, complete IRAS's Overview of GST e-learning course before applying, pay by GIRO, and send your invoices through InvoiceNow. Voluntary registration makes sense when you sell mainly to GST-registered businesses or mainly export.

How do I check if a company is GST-registered in Singapore?

Use the GST Registered Business Search on the IRAS website. Search by the company's name, UEN or GST registration number to see whether it is registered and from when. Check before paying GST to a supplier you don't know: only a GST-registered business may charge GST.

What happens if I register for GST late?

IRAS registers you from the date you should have been registered, and you owe the GST on your sales from that date, whether or not you charged it to customers. On top, the law sets a penalty of 10% of that GST and a fine of up to S$10,000, which IRAS generally waives if you tell it you're late when you apply. So if you missed the deadline, apply straight away and say so.

Singapore GST Registration: The S$1 Million Threshold

Short answer: you must register for GST in Singapore once your taxable turnover goes over S$1 million, measured either over the last calendar year or the next 12 months. Apply on the myTax Portal within 30 days, with your registration starting a few weeks later. Below S$1 million you can register voluntarily, but you’re then committed for two years.

This guide is for Singapore businesses: a Shopify store, a café, a consultancy or a wholesale trader. Overseas businesses selling to Singapore consumers have a different threshold, covered in Singapore GST for overseas sellers.

Do you have to register?

Your situation	Do you register?	Deadline
Taxable turnover in the last calendar year was over S$1 million	Yes, compulsory	Apply by 30 January, registered from 1 March
You expect over S$1 million in the next 12 months	Yes, compulsory	Apply within 30 days, registered two months after
Under S$1 million, selling mostly to consumers in Singapore	No. Usually best not to	—
Under S$1 million, selling mostly to GST-registered businesses or exporting	Optional. Often worth it	—
Under S$1 million, about to cross it	Not yet, but watch each month	—

What counts towards S$1 million

The threshold is about taxable turnover, which is narrower than revenue.

Counts:

Standard-rated sales in Singapore, at their value before GST
Zero-rated sales: exports of goods and international services. A business selling mostly overseas can still have to register

Doesn’t count:

Exempt sales, such as residential rent and most financial services
Out-of-scope sales, such as goods bought overseas and shipped straight to an overseas customer without coming into Singapore
Sales of your own business assets, such as an old delivery van

Every channel counts together: your website, marketplaces, wholesale, market stalls and services. Turnover is added up per person, which for a company is the company. A sole proprietor running two businesses adds both together.

The two tests

Looking back: the calendar-year test

At the end of each calendar year, add up your taxable turnover for that year. If it’s more than S$1 million, you must apply between 1 and 30 January. Your registration starts on 1 March.

IRAS can let you off if you’re certain your turnover for the next 12 months will stay at S$1 million or less because something specific has changed: a major contract has ended, you’ve downsized, you’ve lost a licence or distribution rights, or you’re closing. You apply for that exemption with documents and a projection. It isn’t automatic.

Looking forward: the 12-month test

At any time, if you can reasonably expect taxable turnover of more than S$1 million over the next 12 months, you must apply within 30 days of that date. Your registration starts two months after it. The expectation has to rest on documents such as contracts, accepted quotations or actual orders; a business plan on its own doesn’t count. Typical triggers:

signing a contract worth more than S$1 million over the next year
buying a business that already turns over more than S$1 million
orders already in hand that put you over S$1 million

This test catches fast-growing businesses before the calendar year ends. Don’t wait for 31 December if you already know.

Worked example: a Shopify store

Sambal Studio sells sauces and spice kits from its own website and on Shopee, steadily, at about S$70,000 a month:

Months	Taxable sales	Running total for 2026
January to June	S$420,000	S$420,000
July to September	S$210,000	S$630,000
October	S$70,000	S$700,000

At that pace, the next 12 months come to about S$840,000, under the threshold. Then on 3 November 2026, a supermarket chain signs a 12-month supply contract worth S$600,000. Sambal Studio can now reasonably expect about S$1.44 million over the next 12 months.

The 12-month test is met on 3 November, so Sambal Studio must apply by 3 December 2026, even though its 2026 sales will end up under S$1 million. It’s registered from 3 January 2027.
Without the contract, it would end 2026 at around S$840,000 and wouldn’t have to register yet. It would check again each month, and at the end of 2027.

From 3 January, its S$12 chilli jar goes on sale at S$13.08, GST included.

GST · Singapore · Standard Tangible Goods

S$1.08GST to add to the price

9% GST

Price excluding GSTS$12.00
Singapore GST9%S$1.08
Total including GSTS$13.08

Selling to customers in Singapore? Get GST right on every order.

GoodVat charges Singapore GST at checkout through one API, alongside VAT, GST and sales tax in your other markets.

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Rates and rules from GoodVat’s tax engine, kept current as they change. A calculation tool, not tax advice. Open the full Singapore GST calculator.

Voluntary registration

Below S$1 million, you can apply to register. It suits some businesses and costs others.

It usually pays when:

most of your customers are GST-registered businesses, which claim back the 9% you charge, so it costs them nothing
you export most of what you sell, so you’d charge 0% but claim back GST on your costs, often as a refund
you have large start-up costs with GST on them, such as equipment or a fit-out

It usually doesn’t when you sell mainly to consumers in Singapore. You’d either raise prices by 9% or absorb the GST out of your margin.

The conditions:

You must stay registered for at least two years.
Before applying, the director, owner or whoever prepares your returns completes IRAS’s free Overview of GST e-learning course and its quiz.
Set up GIRO: IRAS only processes a voluntary application once your GIRO application is in.
Send your invoice data to IRAS through InvoiceNow, Singapore’s Peppol e-invoicing network, from the start of your registration. This applies to every voluntary registration made from 1 April 2026. Compulsory registrants follow from 1 April 2028.

How to apply

Get your UEN. A company or sole proprietorship registered with ACRA already has one. Your GST registration number is often the same as your UEN.
Log in to the myTax Portal with Corppass, and choose to register for GST.
Fill in the application: your business details, your taxable turnover for the past 12 months and a forecast for the next 12, and the date you went over (or expect to go over) S$1 million.
Attach evidence if IRAS asks for it: sales records, contracts, a forecast.
Wait for the decision. IRAS processes most applications within 10 working days and the rest within 30 days, provided the application is complete. The letter tells you your GST registration number and effective date of registration.

Start charging 9% from the effective date. Sales you made between that date and receiving the letter are taxable too: you owe the GST on them even if you didn’t charge it.

After you register

Charge 9% on your standard-rated sales and show GST-inclusive prices to consumers.
Issue tax invoices to GST-registered customers within 30 days.
Claim back GST you pay on business purchases and imports, with valid tax invoices or import permits as proof.
File a GST F5 return every quarter, within one month of its end, and pay at the same time.
Keep records for five years.

The Singapore GST overview has the filing details and penalties.

Checking a GST registration number

Only a GST-registered business may charge GST. Before you pay GST to a new supplier, or if you’re about to zero-rate or reverse-charge a sale, check their number in the GST Registered Business Search on the IRAS website. Search by business name, UEN or GST registration number.

A Singapore GST registration number usually looks like a UEN (for example 201912345K) or, for older registrations and overseas businesses, an M-number (for example M90312345X).

Leaving the GST system

You must tell IRAS within 30 days if you stop trading, sell the business or change its legal form, such as turning a sole proprietorship into a company. You can also apply to cancel when you’re certain taxable turnover will stay at S$1 million or less for the next 12 months because of a specific change, with documents to show it (and after at least two years, if you joined voluntarily).

On your last day of registration, you pay GST on the stock and business assets you still own if their total market value is over S$10,000, unless you sell the whole business as a going concern to a GST-registered buyer.

Official sources

IRAS: Do I need to register for GST?
IRAS: Registering for GST
IRAS: InvoiceNow requirement for GST-registered businesses