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Singapore's GST to increase from 7% to 9%.

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Singapore's GST to increase from 7% to 9%.

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As Singapore’s population ages and social spending needs surge, economists have predicted that an increase in GST is inevitable. From the first time since 2007, Singapore would be projected to increase their GST.

The GST will be increased progressively from 7% to 9% over the period of 2021 to 2025. The exact timing will depend on the state of the economy, how much our expenditures grow, and how buoyant our existing taxes are. This increase is necessary because even after exploring various options to manage our future expenditures through prudent spending, saving and borrowing for infrastructure, there is still a gap.

Also, Singapore;s GST Voucher scheme would be enhanced to help Singaporeans cope with the hike - with a S$2 billion top-up to the GSTV Fund. Currently, about $800 million is disbursed every year. There will an offset package implemented during the initial phase of the hike to help Singaporeans adjust, with lower and middle-income households getting more support, Mr Heng said.

There will also be a New e-tax on digital services. GST will be implemented on imported services bought from suppliers based overseas from Jan 1, 2020. This e-tax will only affect B2B services, such as marketing and IT services, and B2C services, such as apps and video and music streaming.B2C imported services will come under an overseas vendor registration model, which will require e-tax to be paid by overseas vendors whose annual global turnover exceeds $1 million and who make more than $100,000 in the sale of digital services to consumers in Singapore. This means app stores without a Singapore office will have to register with Iras and collect GST on their services.

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SINGAPORE - The goods and services tax (GST) is set to increase from 7 per cent to 9 per cent some time between 2021 and 2025.

This comes as the Government's spending on healthcare, infrastructure and security has gone up and is expected to increase further in the years to come.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat made the announcement in his Budget statement in Parliament on Monday (Feb 19).

The exact timing will depend on three factors: the state of Singapore's economy, how much the country's expenditures grow, and how buoyant Singapore's existing taxes are. But Mr Heng said he expected that the Government would need to do so earlier rather than later.

Mr Heng said the GST increase is "necessary because even after exploring various options to manage our future expenditures through prudent spending, saving and borrowing for infrastructure, there is still a gap".

He said the 2 percentage point increase will provide the Government with revenue of almost 0.7 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product per year.

GST is a broad-based consumption tax levied on nearly all goods and services in Singapore.

The last time GST was raised was more than a decade ago in 2007, when it went up from 5 per cent to 7 per cent.

The GST hike comes after months of speculation. DBS Bank senior economist Irvin Seah had said in a report by The Straits Times in November that he expected the GST to be raised by 2 percentage points in Budget 2018. He predicted a staggered hike implemented over two years.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last year that Singapore will be raising taxes as government spending grows, sparking speculation among economists and tax specialists about the type of increase and when it would kick in.

Nine of 10 economists polled by Reuters predicted an increase, with policymakers flagging the need to increase revenue to meet the future social spending needs of a rapidly ageing population.

On Monday, Mr Heng said the Government will continue to absorb GST on publicly subsidised education and healthcare.

It will also enhance the permanent GST Voucher scheme when the GST is increased, to provide more help to lower-income households and seniors. About $800 million is disbursed ever year currently under this scheme. The Government will be topping up the GST Voucher fund by $2 billion this year.

There will also be an offset package for a period to help Singaporeans adjust to the GST increase when it happens. Lower- and middle-income households will receive more support.

Mr Heng said more details of the GST increase will be released once the timing for its implementation is determined.

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Singapore Budget 2018: GST to be raised from 7% to 9% some time between 2021 and 2025

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SINGAPORE - The goods and services tax (GST) is set to increase from 7 per cent to 9 per cent some time between 2021 and 2025. This comes as the Government's spending on healthcare, infrastructure and security has gone up and is expected to increase further in the years to come.

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Singapore inflation falls to 0% in January

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Singapore inflation falls to 0% in January

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Singapore's inflation rate  fell from 0% in January in 2018 from 0.4% in December 2017 according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore(MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry(MTI) on February 23, 2018. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)'s year-on-year drop to 0 per cent in January was largely due to lower accommodation which fell by 5.3%, in January 2018 being 1.5% more than the preceding month, and private road transport inflation was moderated to 1.6 per cent in January from 2.6 per cent in the previous month, due to lower car prices and a decline in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums , said MAS and MTI. On the other hand,Singapore's core inflation nudged up to 1.4 per cent from 1.3 per cent the previous month. Due to the changes in prices for raw ingredients, the food inflation decreased from 1.4% in December 2017 to 1.1% in January 2018. However,there isn't an inflation in the service industry.

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's headline inflation rate fell to 0 per cent in January this year from 0.4 per cent December, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Friday (Feb 23).

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)'s year-on-year drop to 0 per cent in January was largely due to lower accommodation and private road transport inflation, said MAS and MTI.

The cost of accommodation fell by 5.3 per cent in January, compared to the 3.8 per cent decline registered in the preceding month, as Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates were disbursed to HDB households in January 2018, but not in the same month last year.

Private road transport inflation moderated to 1.6 per cent in January from 2.6 per cent in the previous month, due to lower car prices and a decline in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums.

However core inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, nudged up to 1.4 per cent from 1.3 per cent the previous month. This was due to higher retail inflation more than offsetting a decline in food inflation, said MAS and MTI.

Food inflation fell to 1.1 per cent in January from 1.4 per cent in December, largely on account of a moderation in the price increases for non-cooked food items.

The cost of prepared meals also rose at a slightly slower pace compared to the previous month.

Services inflation was 1.3 per cent in January, unchanged from the previous month, as a smaller decline in the cost of public road transport, together with larger increases in education and recreational and cultural services fees, offset a fall in telecommunications services fees and a steeper drop in air fares, said the two agencies.

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Singapore inflation falls to 0% in January

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's headline inflation rate fell to 0 per cent in January this year from 0.4 per cent December, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Friday (Feb 23).

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Singapore's GDP growth rate increased to 4.3 in 1st quarter  of 2018

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Singapore's GDP growth rate increased to 4.3 in 1st quarter  of 2018

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Singapore's GDP growth rate has increased from 3.6 to 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2018. This is the second highest growth rate in the past 13 quarters. This is due to the increased rate of manufacturing and wholesale & retail trade. The manufacturing output grew at an outstanding rate of 10.1 percent. Though the total growth rate was pulled down by the 4.4 percent of shrinking of the constuction output

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Singapore's unemployment rate decreased to 2% in  the first 3 months of 2018 

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Singapore's unemployment rate decreased to 2% in  the first 3 months of 2018 

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Singapore's unemployment rate has decreased from 2.1% to 2.0% in the first 3 months of 2018. This is the lowest rate unemployment rate since March 2016. This is because more jobs were created the sectors community, social and personal services, financial and insurance, information and communications; and transportation and storage. The number of retrenchments in 1Q 2018 (2,100) was  lower than both the preceding quarter (3,680) and the same period a year ago (4,000). Retrenchments declined over the quarter in manufacturing, construction and services.

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Singapore Unemployment Rate | 1986-2020 Data | 2021-2022 Forecast | Calendar

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Singapore's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose sharply to 2.9 percent in the June quarter of 2020 from 2.4 percent in the previous period, a preliminary estimate showed. This was the highest jobless rate since the September quarter of 2009, as the economy entered a recession in Q2 while the external environment remained weak amid a threat of the second wave of COVID-19 crisis.