Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2010

No. S 827

Goods and Services Tax Act

(Chapter 117A)

Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2010

In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 11B(4), 27A, 41(1) and 86(1) of the Goods and Services Tax Act, the Minister for Finance hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2010 and shall come into operation on 1st January 2011.

Amendment of regulation 2

2. Regulation 2(2) of the Goods and Services Tax (General) Regulations (Rg 1) (referred to in these Regulations as the principal Regulations) is amended by deleting the words “section 37(3)(c)” in sub-paragraph (b) and substituting the words “section 37(5)(b)”.

Amendment of regulation 10

3. Regulation 10(5) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “sections 11 and 12” and substituting the words “sections 11, 11A, 11B and 12”.

Amendment of regulation 11

4. Regulation 11(2) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “section 11(2)( c) or 12(2)” and substituting the words “section 11A(6)”.

Amendment of regulation 12

5. Regulation 12(2) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “section 39(2B) or (2F)” wherever they appear and substituting in each case the words “section 39(4) or (8)”.

Deletion and substitution of regulation 15

6. Regulation 15 of the principal Regulations is deleted and the following regulation substituted therefor:

“Supplies of goods and services excluded from section 11B(3) of Act

15. The following supplies of goods and services shall be excluded from the application of section 11B(3) of the Act:

(a)	a supply of goods under paragraph 4 of the Second Schedule to the Act consisting of the grant of a licence, tenancy or lease where the whole or part of the consideration for that grant is payable periodically and attributed to separate periods of the term of the licence, tenancy or lease;
(b)	a supply of any form of power (including electricity), gas (excluding gas supplied in cylinders), water, light, heat, refrigeration, air-conditioning, ventilation, telephone, telex, telepac and similar telecommunications services;
(c)	a supply of goods under an arrangement whereby the supplier retains the property therein until the goods or part of them are appropriated under the agreement by the buyer and in circumstances where the whole or part of the consideration is determined at that time;
(d)	a supply of goods or services after 1st April 1994 under a contract which provides for the retention of any part of the consideration by one party pending full and satisfactory performance of the contract, or any part of it, by the other party;
(e)	a supply of services for a period for a consideration the whole or part of which is determined or payable periodically or from time to time;
(f)	a supply of services comprising the right to use a benefit where the whole of the consideration for the supply (being in the nature of royalties or other similar payments) cannot be ascertained at the time the services are performed but only subsequently by a person other than the supplier of the services upon the use of the benefit;
(g)	supplies of goods or services in the course of the construction, alteration, demolition, repair or maintenance of a building or of any engineering work under a contract which provides for payments for such supplies to be made periodically or from time to time.”.

Amendment of regulation 16

7. Regulation 16 of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (1); and

(b)

by deleting the words “in respect of the grant of a licence, tenancy or lease referred to in paragraph (1)” in paragraph (2) and substituting the words “the grant of a licence, tenancy or lease is a supply of goods under paragraph 4 of the Second Schedule to the Act, and the whole or part of the consideration for that grant is payable periodically and is attributed to separate periods of the term of the licence, tenancy or lease”.

Deletion of regulations 17, 18 and 19

8. Regulations 17, 18 and 19 of the principal Regulations are deleted.

Amendment of regulation 20

9. Regulation 20 of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)	by deleting paragraph (1); and
(b)	by deleting the words “such separate and successive supplies of services referred to in paragraph (1) are made” in paragraph (2) and substituting the words “services are supplied for a period for a consideration the whole or part of which is determined or payable periodically or from time to time,”.

Deletion of regulations 21, 22 and 24

10. Regulations 21, 22 and 24 of the principal Regulations are deleted.

Amendment of regulation 23

11. Regulation 23 of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “a tax invoice” and substituting the words “an invoice”.

Deletion and substitution of regulation 43

12. Regulation 43 of the principal Regulations is deleted and the following regulation substituted therefor:

“Petroleum products removed from customs control

43.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where petroleum products under customs control are goods referred to in section 37(1), (2)(a) or (3)(a) of the Act, the Comptroller may permit them to be removed from any specified warehouse into the customs territory without payment of tax subject to the following conditions:

(a)	the petroleum products are removed by a taxable person for the purpose of a business carried on by him;
(b)	the petroleum products are for the principal trade, profession or vocation of the taxable person; and
(c)	such other conditions as the Comptroller may think fit to impose.

(2) The licensee of the specified warehouse from which the petroleum products are to be removed from customs control shall verify that the taxable person removing the petroleum products satisfies the conditions under paragraph (1)(a) and (b) before allowing the removal.

(3) In this regulation, “specified warehouse” means any of the following:

(a)	a warehouse or other place licensed pursuant to regulations made under section 37(5)(b) of the Act;
(b)	a licensed warehouse as defined in section 3(1) of the Customs Act (Cap. 70) (including a place of manufacture licensed under section 63(1) of that Act).”.

Amendment of regulation 44

13. Regulation 44(1) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “which are subject to a warehousing regime to be removed from the warehousing regime” and substituting the words “to be removed from a bonded warehouse referred to in Part XIV”.

Amendment of regulation 45

14. Regulation 45 of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(1) A taxable person who is eligible under paragraph (2) may make an application to the Comptroller for goods outside Singapore which —

(a)	enter Singapore under customs control; and
(b)	are removed from customs control into the customs territory by the taxable person in the course or furtherance of any business carried on by him,

not being goods which are subject to a duty (whether customs duty or excise duty or both), to be so removed without payment of the tax chargeable on the importation.”;

(b)

by deleting paragraph (7) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(7) Unless the Comptroller otherwise allows or directs, notwithstanding that no tax is payable, a taxable person to whom approval has been granted under this regulation in relation to paragraph (1) shall account for the tax chargeable on his importation of goods.”; and

(c)

by deleting the words “or the supply, as the case may be,” in paragraph (8)(a).

Amendment of regulation 45A

15. Regulation 45A of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(1) A taxable person who is eligible under paragraph (3) may make an application to the Comptroller for goods outside Singapore which —

(a)	enter Singapore under customs control; and
(b)	are removed from customs control into the customs territory by the taxable person in the course or furtherance of any business carried on by him,

not being goods which are subject to a duty (whether customs duty or excise duty or both), to do any of the following:

(i)	remove those goods without payment of the tax chargeable on the importation;
(ii)	remove those goods and supply them to a specified person, without payment of the tax chargeable on the importation and on the supply.”;

(b)

by deleting the words “paragraph (1)(a)(i) or (ii)” in paragraph (8)(a) and substituting the words “paragraph (1)(i) or (ii)”;

(c)

by deleting the words “paragraph (1)(a)(ii)” in paragraph (8)(b) and substituting the words “paragraph (1)(ii)”;

(d)

by deleting the words “paragraph (1)(a)(ii)” in paragraphs (10) and (10A) and substituting in each case the words “paragraph (1)(ii)”; and

(e)

by deleting paragraph (10B).

Amendment of regulation 45C

16. Regulation 45C of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (2) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(2) Subject to paragraph (4) —

(a)

goods outside Singapore (other than qualifying aircraft parts) which —

(i)	enter Singapore under customs control; and
(ii)	are removed from customs control into the customs territory by an approved person in the course or furtherance of any business carried on by him,

not being goods which are subject to a duty (whether customs duty or excise duty or both), may be so removed without payment of the tax chargeable on the importation; and

(b)

qualifying aircraft parts which —

(i)

enter customs control; and

(ii)

are either —

(A)	removed from customs control into the customs territory by an approved person in the course or furtherance of any business carried on by him; or
(B)	consigned to an approved person as recipient, and removed from customs control into the customs territory by the approved person, for the purposes of making his taxable supplies in the course or furtherance of any business carried on by him,

not being goods which are subject to a duty (whether customs duty or excise duty or both), may be so removed without payment of the tax chargeable on the importation.”;

(b)

by deleting paragraph (3);

(c)

by deleting the words “or supply” wherever they appear in paragraphs (4), (11) and (12); and

(d)

by deleting the definitions of “customs territory” and “free trade zone” in paragraph (13).

Amendment of regulation 45D

17. Regulation 45D(1) of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “and pay to the Comptroller” in sub-paragraph (b); and
(b)	by inserting, immediately after the words “removal of the goods took place” in sub-paragraph (b), the words “, and pay the same to the Comptroller”.

Amendment of regulation 46

18. Regulation 46 of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “for and to” in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b), (2)(a)(i) and (c) and (14) and substituting in each case the words “under a contract with and directly benefitting”;

(b)

by deleting the words “imported goods that are not subject to a duty (whether customs duty or excise duty or both)” in paragraph (2)(a) and substituting the words “goods outside Singapore which enter Singapore under customs control, not being goods which are subject to a duty (whether customs duty or excise duty or both)”;

(c)

by deleting the words “imported by” in paragraph (2)(a)(ii) and substituting the words “removed by”;

(d)

by deleting sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2);

(e)

by deleting the words “business transactions,” in paragraph (9);

(f)

by deleting the words “then the customer shall, if he is a taxable person, account for and pay the tax on the supply of the goods from the overseas person to him as if he himself had supplied the goods in the course or furtherance of his business” in paragraph (14) and substituting the words “then the approved person shall account for and pay the tax on the supply of goods in substitution for the overseas person”;

(g)

by deleting paragraphs (15) and (16) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(15) For the purpose of paragraph (14), the time of supply of the specified goods shall be treated as taking place at the earliest of the following times:

(a)	whenever the goods are delivered to the customer of the overseas person;
(b)	whenever the approved person receives payment in respect of the supply;
(c)	whenever the approved person issues an invoice relating to the supply.”;

(h)

by deleting the words “paragraph (11) or (12), or a direction referred to in paragraph (15)” in paragraph (18)(d) and substituting the words “paragraph (11), (12) or (14)”;

(i)

by deleting the words “pursuant to a direction referred to in paragraph (15)” in paragraph (19)(b) and substituting the words “under paragraph (14)”; and

(j)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (19), the following paragraphs:

“(19A) An approved person who receives specified goods from another approved person shall not deliver the goods to a person other than an approved person or a customer of the overseas person.

(19B) Where an approved person contravenes paragraph (19A), he shall pay to the Comptroller an amount equal to the tax that would have been payable as if the approved person had himself made a supply of the goods in the course or furtherance of his business and for this purpose, the value of the goods shall be taken to be —

(a)	where known, the market value of the goods; or
(b)	where the market value of the goods is not known, a value determined by the Comptroller.

(19C) An approved person referred to in paragraph (19B) shall include the amount paid to the Comptroller under that paragraph as output tax in his return.”.

Deletion and substitution of regulation 52

19. Regulation 52 of the principal Regulations is deleted and the following regulation substituted therefor:

“Furnishing of returns

52.—(1) Except as the Comptroller may otherwise allow or direct in any particular case, where a person is registered or was or is required to be registered, he shall furnish to the Comptroller with a return in accordance with this regulation.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the person referred to in paragraph (1) shall furnish a return in respect of every period of a quarter.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), where the Comptroller considers it necessary in the circumstances of any particular case to vary the length of any period or the date on which any period begins or ends, he may allow or direct any person to furnish returns in respect of any of the following periods, whether or not the period so varied has ended:

(a)

every period of the whole of —

(i)	a single calendar month;
(ii)	3 consecutive calendar months (not constituting a quarter); or
(iii)	6 consecutive calendar months;

(b)

every such other period as the Comptroller may determine.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3), the following shall apply to the first return and the last return of a person referred to in paragraph (1):

(a)

where the effective date of the person does not coincide with the first day of a standard period, a special period or an exceptional period applicable to the person on the effective date, the first return of the person shall be furnished in respect of a period that —

(i)	begins on the effective date; and
(ii)	ends on the last day of the standard period, special period or exceptional period in which the effective date occurs;

(b)

where the cancellation date of the person does not coincide with the last day of a standard period, a special period or an exceptional period applicable to the person on the first day of the standard period, special period or exceptional period, the last return of the person shall be furnished in respect of a period that —

(i)	begins on the first day of the standard period, special period or exceptional period in which the day immediately before the cancellation date occurs; and
(ii)	ends on the day immediately before the cancellation date.

(5) Where a return to be furnished by a person referred to in paragraph (1) is in respect of —

(a)	the whole of a standard period or a special period applicable to the person; or
(b)	a period referred to in paragraph (4)(a) that ends on the last day of the standard period or special period applicable to the person,

the return shall be furnished by the person no later than the last day of the month immediately following the end of the period in respect of which the return is to be furnished.

(6) Where a return to be furnished by a person referred to in paragraph (1) is in respect of a period other than that referred to in paragraph (5)(a) and (b), the return shall be furnished by the person no later than —

(a)	the day in the month immediately following the month in which the period in respect of which the return is to be furnished ends, that corresponds numerically to the last day of the period; or
(b)	where there is no such corresponding day, the last day of the month immediately following the month in which the period ends.

(7) A return under this regulation shall be furnished to the Comptroller in the form determined by the Comptroller.

(8) In this regulation —

“cancellation date”, in relation to a person referred to in paragraph (1), means the date on which the person ceases to be registered under the Act;

“effective date”, in relation to a person referred to in paragraph (1), means the date determined in accordance with section 91(3) of, or the First Schedule to, the Act upon which the person was or should have been registered;

“exceptional period” means a period referred to in paragraph (3)(b);

“special period” means a period referred to in paragraph (3)(a);

“standard period” means a period referred to in paragraph (2).”.

Amendment of regulation 53

20. Regulation 53 of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting paragraph (5) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(5) In this regulation, “specified return” means any return referred to in regulation 52.”.

Amendment of heading to Part XI

21. Part XI of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “SECONDHAND GOODS” in the Part heading and substituting the word “MARGIN”.

Amendment of regulation 80

22. Regulation 80 of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the regulation heading and substituting the following regulation heading:

“Relief for certain goods”.

Amendment of regulation 82

23. Regulation 82(2) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “Sections 11 and 12” and substituting the words “Sections 11, 11A, 11B and 12”.

Amendment of regulation 92D

24. Regulation 92D of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “sections 11 and 12” and substituting the words “sections 11, 11A, 11B and 12”.

Amendment of regulation 93F

25. Regulation 93F of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)	by inserting, immediately after the words “goods or services” in paragraph (1)(b)(ii), the words “(including a voucher issued by the supplier referred to in sub-paragraph (i))”;
(b)	by inserting, immediately after the words “goods and services” in paragraph (2)(b)(ii), the words “(including a voucher issued by the supplier referred to in sub-paragraph (i))”; and
(c)	by deleting the words “against the redemption of another voucher” in paragraph (5)(a) and substituting the words “to another person for any consideration”.

Amendment of regulation 94

26. Regulation 94(1) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “subject to a warehousing regime under section 37 of the Act” and substituting the words “under customs control as referred to in section 37 of the Act”.

Amendment of regulation 103B

27. Regulation 103B(1) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “subject to a warehousing regime under section 37 of the Act” and substituting the words “for the storage of goods under customs control as referred to in section 37 of the Act”.

Amendment of regulation 108

28. Regulation 108 of the principal Regulations is amended by inserting, immediately after “13,”, “43(2),”.

[G.N. Nos. S 674/2008; S 32/2009; S 118/2009; S 626/2009; S 64/2010; S566/2010]

Made this 21st day of December 2010.

CHAN LAI FUNG

Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Finance,
Singapore.

[MOF R060.001.0013.V37; Customs (Conf) 0105/86/Pt F/V12; AG/LLRD/SL/117A/2010/3 Vol. 1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 86(2) of the Goods and Services Tax Act).

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