How Much Is GST in Singapore? (9% Rate in 2026 + Hidden Costs)

GST in Singapore is 9% in 2026. The rate rose from 8% to 9% on 1 January 2024 — the second leg of a two-step hike announced in Budget 2022 (the first leg, 7% → 8%, took effect 1 January 2023). It applies to most goods and services bought and sold in Singapore, including imports. Specific zero-rated supplies (exports, international services) are charged at 0%, and exempt supplies (most financial services, residential property, digital payment tokens) sit outside the GST system entirely.

Use the GST Impact Calculator to estimate the impact on your household budget.

GST in Singapore at a glance

What is taxed at the 9% GST rate?

Most goods and services bought and sold in Singapore. Concrete examples:

Goods:

• Groceries (most, with some exemptions for items like staple foods at supermarkets — but practically all are taxed)
• Clothes, electronics, household items
• Restaurant meals + hawker food (small operators below the $1M turnover threshold may not charge GST — check the receipt)
• Cars (GST on OMV + Excise Duty)
• Petrol

Services:

• Telco, internet, utilities
• Healthcare (private — public/subsidised care often outside GST scope)
• Education at private institutions
• Professional fees (legal, accounting, consulting)
• Public transport — note: MRT and bus fares are GST-exempt
• Imported services since 1 Jan 2020 + Imported low-value goods since 1 Jan 2023 (reverse-charge GST)

Property:

• Sale and lease of commercial property (taxed)
• Sale and lease of residential property (GST-exempt — see below)

What is zero-rated or exempt?

The distinction matters for businesses but also affects households:

Zero-rated (0% GST, but still counted as taxable turnover):

• Exports of goods physically shipped out of Singapore
• International services (cross-border consulting, etc.)
• Outbound air and sea travel

GST-exempt (outside the GST system entirely):

• Most financial services — bank fees, insurance premiums (with exceptions), securities transactions
• Sale and lease of residential property — your HDB or condo purchase doesn't attract GST; nor does rental income (but commercial property does)
• Local supply of digital payment tokens (cryptocurrency exchanges)

Net effect for a typical household: rent / mortgage, financial fees, and overseas spend escape GST entirely. Your effective GST exposure is on F&B, retail, utilities, and discretionary services — typically 50–70% of monthly spend, not 100%.

How the 8% → 9% transition affected you

For a median Singapore household spending $4,000/month on GST-applicable purchases, the additional 1% GST cost is:

• $40/month
• $480/year

For higher-spending households ($7,000/month GST-applicable), the additional cost is ~$70/month = ~$840/year.

The actual impact is smaller in practice because:

• Rent / mortgage interest is GST-exempt
• Financial services are GST-exempt
• Overseas spend (when overseas) is outside Singapore GST
• Public transport fares are GST-exempt

A typical household's total monthly expenditure of $7,000–$10,000 might have only $4,500–$6,000 in actual GST-applicable purchases.

The Assurance Package + GST Voucher offset

To cushion the rate increase, the government extended the Assurance Package (2022–2027) and enhanced the permanent GST Voucher scheme. Lower-income SCs receive:

• GSTV — Cash annually (income- and AV-tested)
• GSTV — MediSave top-up annually for older SCs
• GSTV — U-Save quarterly utilities rebate for HDB households
• CDC vouchers annually (Assurance Package supplement)
• Cost-of-Living Special Payments in select years

Total GST Voucher benefits for a lower-income household typically run $700–$1,200/year, plus the $300–$800 Assurance Package supplement. For many lower-income SCs, the offset exceeds the additional GST they actually pay — making them net positive on the rate change.

Use the Income Tax Calculator and your annual GST Voucher entitlement letter to compute your specific offset.

GST for businesses — the $1M registration threshold

Businesses must register for GST when their annual taxable turnover exceeds $1 million (retrospective rolling 12 months OR prospective forecast next 12 months).

Key implications:

• Once registered, the business must charge 9% GST on its taxable supplies
• It can claim input GST credits on its business expenses
• It must file GST returns (quarterly for most) and remit net GST collected
• Voluntary registration is allowed below $1M — useful if your customers are GST-registered (so they reclaim the GST you charge them) and you have significant input GST to recover

The $1M threshold has been unchanged since 2019.

Reverse-charge GST and overseas digital services

Since 1 January 2020 (services) and 1 January 2023 (low-value goods imports), imported services and low-value goods are subject to reverse-charge GST. This is why your Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, and similar overseas-billed services now show GST on the receipt — the overseas provider collects it on Singapore's behalf.

For consumers, this means there's no "GST-free" overseas digital purchase route anymore. For businesses, reverse-charge applies to imported B2B services with full input-credit recoverability.

Will GST go up again?

Not announced as of May 2026. The 2022 Budget set the two-step 7% → 8% → 9% trajectory, which completed on 1 January 2024. Any future increase would require a fresh Budget announcement with typically 12+ months of advance notice. Budget 2026 (delivered February 2026) did not introduce a GST increase or schedule one.

Related calculators

• GST Impact Calculator — model the impact on your household monthly budget
• Income Tax Calculator — see how income tax + GST + reliefs interact
• Complete Income Tax Guide Singapore YA2026

Sources

• IRAS — Current GST rate (iras.gov.sg)
• IRAS — Zero-rated and exempt supplies
• Ministry of Finance — Budget 2022 GST rate change announcement; Assurance Package
• Audit #4 (IRAS / Tax, May 2026) — Perplexity Deep Research verification against primary sources