Do foreign companies have to charge GST in Singapore?

Some do. An overseas business must register for Singapore GST under the Overseas Vendor Registration regime and charge 9% when its global turnover is more than S$1 million and its sales of digital services, other remote services and low-value goods to Singapore consumers are more than S$100,000, over a calendar year or expected over the next 12 months.

What are low-value goods in Singapore?

Goods worth S$400 or less that are sold to a Singapore consumer and brought into Singapore by air or post. Since 1 January 2023, an OVR-registered seller or marketplace charges 9% GST on them at checkout, because Singapore Customs doesn't collect GST on imports of that value. Goods over S$400 are charged GST at the border instead.

Do I charge Singapore GST to business customers?

Not if they're GST-registered in Singapore. Ask for their GST registration number and check it in the IRAS GST Registered Business Search. If it's valid, don't charge GST: the customer accounts for it under the reverse charge if it has to. A business customer that isn't GST-registered is treated like a consumer, so you charge 9%.

What is the simplified pay-only regime?

A lighter way for overseas vendors to register for Singapore GST. You register, charge 9% to Singapore consumers, file a return every quarter and pay the GST you collected. You can't claim back GST on costs and don't issue Singapore tax invoices. It suits overseas businesses with no other Singapore sales and no Singapore costs.

Does Singapore GST apply to SaaS and apps?

Yes. Software subscriptions, apps, streaming, online courses, e-books and other digital services sold from overseas to Singapore consumers are subject to 9% GST under the OVR regime, once you pass the thresholds. If you sell through an app store or marketplace that handles payment, it usually charges the GST for you.

Singapore GST for Overseas Sellers: OVR and Low-Value Goods

Short answer: an overseas business selling digital services, other remote services or parcels of S$400 or less to consumers in Singapore must register for Singapore GST once its global turnover is over S$1 million and those Singapore sales are over S$100,000 a year. It then charges 9% at checkout and files every quarter. Sales to GST-registered Singapore businesses are not charged GST, and marketplaces charge it for their sellers.

This guide is for businesses based outside Singapore: a US SaaS company, a UK online course creator, an Australian Shopify store shipping to Singapore. If your business is in Singapore, start with the Singapore GST overview.

Does this apply to you?

What you sell to Singapore	Who you sell to	Singapore GST
SaaS, apps, streaming, e-books, online courses	Consumers	9% under OVR, once over both thresholds
Remote services: online consulting, tutoring, design, live classes	Consumers	9% under OVR, once over both thresholds
Goods worth S$400 or less, shipped by air or post	Consumers	9% under OVR, once over both thresholds
Goods worth more than S$400	Consumers	Charged at the border. You don’t register
Anything	GST-registered Singapore businesses	Don’t charge. The customer handles it
Anything, through a marketplace or app store that takes payment	Consumers	The marketplace charges it, not you
Services performed in Singapore (installation, events)	Anyone	Outside OVR. Normal GST registration rules apply

The two thresholds

You must register under the Overseas Vendor Registration (OVR) regime when both are true, over a calendar year, or expected over the next 12 months:

Global turnover over S$1 million. All your sales, everywhere in the world.
Sales to Singapore consumers over S$100,000. Only your sales of digital services, remote services and low-value goods to non-GST-registered customers in Singapore count.

The deadlines match the local rules: within 30 days after the calendar year in which you went over, or within 30 days of when you could expect to go over in the next 12 months.

Plenty of small overseas businesses never get there. A store selling S$40,000 a year to Singapore owes nothing there, however big it is elsewhere.

What’s covered

Digital services (taxed under OVR since 1 January 2020): anything delivered over the internet with little or no human involvement.

software subscriptions and SaaS, apps and in-app purchases
streaming music, film and games
e-books, digital templates and stock photos
online courses that are pre-recorded

Remote services (since 1 January 2023): any service you can supply from outside Singapore to a customer in Singapore, even with a lot of human involvement.

live online tutoring, coaching and fitness classes
consulting, legal or accounting advice by video call or email
freelance design, writing and development for individuals

Low-value goods (since 1 January 2023): physical goods sold to a Singapore consumer, worth S$400 or less, and shipped into Singapore by air or post. The S$400 applies to each item, not the whole order, at its sale value before shipping and insurance. You still charge GST on the full price, delivery included.

Charging GST to Singapore customers

Once registered, you charge 9% on covered sales to Singapore consumers. Here’s what a sale from overseas looks like:

GST · Singapore · Software as a Service (SaaS)

$9.00GST to add to the price

9% GST

Price excluding GST$100.00
Singapore GST9%$9.00≈ S$11.54 to file, at the market rate 1 SGD = 0.7797 USD
Total including GST$109.00

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.

Knowing the customer is in Singapore. A consumer belongs in Singapore if they usually live there. IRAS accepts two pieces of evidence that don’t contradict each other, such as the billing address, the IP address and the card’s issuing country. Build that check into your checkout and apply it the same way every time.

Show the GST before payment, either in a GST-inclusive price or as a line at checkout.

Currency. You can price and invoice in any currency, but your return is in Singapore dollars. Convert using an exchange rate IRAS accepts, such as the MAS rate or your bank’s, and use the same method every quarter.

Selling to Singapore businesses

Don’t charge GST to GST-registered Singapore businesses. Ask for their GST registration number at checkout and check it in the IRAS GST Registered Business Search. If it’s valid:

charge 0% and keep the number with your records;
the customer accounts for the GST under the reverse charge, if it has to. Fully taxable businesses usually don’t need to; partly exempt ones, such as banks and charities, do.

A business customer that isn’t GST-registered is treated as a consumer: you charge 9%, and the sale counts towards your S$100,000.

Marketplaces and app stores

When you sell through an electronic marketplace that sets the terms, takes the payment or delivers the goods, the marketplace is treated as the seller for Singapore GST and charges it. Typical examples are the Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon and Shopee.

Those sales don’t count towards your own S$100,000.
Sales from your own website still count, even if you also sell on marketplaces.

How to register: the pay-only regime

Most overseas vendors register under the simplified pay-only regime:

Register online with IRAS. You don’t need a Singapore company, address or bank account, and you don’t use InvoiceNow.
Charge 9% on covered sales to Singapore consumers.
File a return every quarter and pay within one month of the quarter’s end, in Singapore dollars.
No input tax claims. You can’t claim back Singapore GST on costs, which most overseas vendors don’t have anyway.
No Singapore tax invoices. A receipt showing the GST is enough for consumers.

If you also have Singapore costs or make other Singapore sales, you can register under the normal GST regime instead, which lets you claim back GST but comes with the full tax invoice and record-keeping rules.

Worked example: a US SaaS company

Lumen Notes, a note-taking app based in Austin, sells subscriptions directly from its website. In 2026:

	Amount
Global turnover	US$2.4 million (about S$3.1 million)
Subscriptions to consumers in Singapore	US$95,000 (about S$122,000)
Subscriptions to GST-registered Singapore companies	US$40,000
Subscriptions bought through the App Store	US$60,000

Global turnover is well over S$1 million. For the S$100,000 test, only the direct consumer sales count: the business sales and the App Store sales are left out. Those come to about S$122,000, so Lumen Notes went over both thresholds in 2026 and must apply by 30 January 2027.

From its registration date, a US$10 monthly plan sold to a consumer in Singapore costs US$10.90. The US$0.90 goes on the quarterly return, converted to Singapore dollars.

Parcels over S$400

Goods worth more than S$400 aren’t covered by OVR. Singapore Customs charges 9% GST at import, on the value plus shipping, insurance and any duty, and the courier collects it from your customer before delivery. You don’t register for that.

If you’d rather your customer didn’t get a bill on delivery, ship DDP (delivered duty paid): your carrier pays the import GST and bills you, and you build it into your price.

How GoodVat helps

Calculates Singapore GST at checkout through the GoodVat API: 9% for consumers, and none for GST-registered businesses that give you their number
Works out the rest of your markets in the same call: EU VAT and OSS, UK VAT, GST in Canada, and US sales tax
Monitors your sales in each country against its registration threshold, so you know when you need to register

Official sources

IRAS: GST on imported services and low-value goods for overseas businesses
IRAS: e-Tax Guide: Taxing imported remote services by way of the overseas vendor registration regime
Singapore Customs: GST on imports