Mastering GST Compliance: How to Ensure Accurate Filing in Singapore
As an owner of a Singaporean company, you have to comply with the GST regulations. GST is acronym for Goods and Services Tax. Here are a few vital tips for GST filing in Singapore. These will help you in being tax-compliant and avoid penalties and fines.
What is the Goods and Services Tax (GST)?
Singaporean GST is a consumption tax levied on the supply of goods and services. It is imposed at each stage of the supply chain to promote transparency, fairness, and growth of country’s economy. It is vital that you know how GST works and how it impacts for your business.
Benefits of the GST
When you have a tax to pay, it adds to your workload and overhead costs. However, being GST-compliant enables you to save. It allows you to claim the input GST you paid on your business purchases. You get to offset it against the GST collected from your clients.
It also brands you as a trustworthy and reliable business. It generates brand loyalty and trust. The purchase and sales data it generates improves your financial planning.
However, many business owners find it a time-consuming and complex task. They choose to outsource GST filing Singapore to professionals. These firms employ teams of expert accountants to assist you in mastering GST compliance. By doing so, they free you to focus on achieving your business goals.
10 Key Tips for GST Filing in Singapore
1 Update Your Knowledge of GST Regulations
Singapore government updates its laws to stay relevant, and tax laws are no exception. You have to keep on updating to stay tax-compliant. One easy way of doing this is to visit the portal run by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).
Here, you get the announcements and updates about changes in the requirements and guidelines to streamline your GST compliance. If you are new to GST, start with the FAQs page on this portal and other reliable websites to get the basics right.
2 Prepare and Maintain Proper Documents
ACRA advises businesses to regularly update their book of accounts. The updated data helps you in filing your GST accurately. Though it is an added burden, you must invest in updating all financial transactions, invoices, receipts, and bills.
The latest accounting data enables you to generate accurate financial documents and reports. It also simplifies the auditing process if the need arises. Such data also promotes transparency and accountability in your financial reporting to your stockholders and authorities.
3 Implement the Latest Accounting Software
Implementation of the latest accounting software enables you to bring efficiency to your bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing. It also greatly automates the calculation of GST and filing. It reduces manual errors and efforts and improves the accuracy of your tax compliance.
These software systems allows remote access and simplifies tracking of transactions in real-time. With them, you can prepare a GST report incorporating the latest data instantly.
4 Know How to Handle Input Tax Credit Rule
Knowing how to use the Input Tax Credit rule for your benefit enables you optimise your cash flow. Master the eligibility criterion to save on taxes. promptly updating your expense transactions helps you spot eligible input taxes and claim them.
5 Keep GST Classification of Supplies Updated
Whenever there is any change to GST classifiction of supplies, you have to update your data and system. It ensures preparation of accurate GST reports. Using outdated data can lead to classifying supplies wrongly and compromised GST compliance.
6 Filing and Paying Your GST Promptly
You have to take steps to meet the GST filing deadline at the end of your each cycle. Failing in it is not a good idea. It can penalise you and impact your cash flow.
To streamline your compliance, you must create GST filing schedule and create alarms or reminders for the important dates. You also must ensure that you have the due tax amount to pay to IRAS without affecting your liquidity.
7 Internal Audits
Here is one of the vital tips for GST filing in Singapore. Conduct an internal audit.
If you are having problems in maintaing the accuracy of filing, think of conducting an internal audit. Hire a professional accounting services firm that specialise in internal audits. They will go through your records and prepare financial statements and management reprots for you.
Their experienced accountants will review and update and if necessary introduce new internal processes and procedures to streamline your accounting. It will enable you in maintaining financial integrity of your business.
8 Online GST Filing
GST filing services firms have experts who are well-versed in online GST filing. They know how to leverage e-services portals made available by IRAS to simplify your filing process. These portals are user-friendly, easy to use, and make your online GST filing efficient and fast.
9 Educate and Train Staff
You want to do your GST filing in-house to retain the full control over your business’ sensetive financial information. It is possible only if you have a trained and experienced staff. It will also mean conducting training sessions regularly and exposing them to the best practices to raise their familiarity with the GST-related issues.
10 Hire Professional GST Filing Firm
Running marketing campaigns to attract customers, ensuring customer satisfaction, and growing your bottom line is what you must focus on. One of the critical tips for GST filing in Singapore is that you need to choose between running your business and executing administrative task on your own.
Let the experts deal with your GST filing. They are best suited for it as they have the latest knowledge of GST regulations and their implications. They know how to mitigate compliance issues related to GST filing and help you stay in the authority’s good books.
In addition, they also provide you with deep financial insights that you can use to make your business decisions.
The current rate of GST is 9%. As a GST-registered company you have to apply GST to all qualifying transactions and collect it from your customers. However, as a busy owner, you may not have the time to update records, knowledge and learn the technology.
One of the best tips for GST filing in Singapore is to let the professional handle it. Your provider updates your books regularly. They calculate the GST you owe to IRAS and prepare an accurate GST report for you to submit. To simplify your GST compliance, all you have to do is hire an experienced provider with a reliable track record.
Contact us at info@sbsgroup.com.sg or +65-6536 0036 for affordable Singapore GST filing services.
Also Read: Ultimate Guide to GST Filing Singapore
