GST basics for Singapore marketplace sellers

GST is Singapore’s consumption tax. If you sell on Shopee, Lazada or TikTok Shop in Singapore, it sits in the background of your business, and for most small sellers it never shows up as a bill. It only becomes your problem once your sales cross a certain size, or once you choose to register early.

I run seller operations out of Singapore, and the same question keeps coming up from people starting out: “do I need to charge GST, and do the platforms charge me GST?” This article gives you the mental model first. It does not replace advice for your own situation. This is not tax advice, and the rules below are as of October 2026, so check the linked IRAS pages before you act on any number.

What it is

GST stands for goods and services tax. It is a tax on consumption, charged at each step of a supply chain and ultimately paid by the final buyer. The rate in Singapore is 9% as of October 2026. It was 7% until the end of 2022, 8% in 2023, and moved to 9% on 1 January 2024. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) administers it, and the main reference is the IRAS GST page.

A few terms you will see again and again:

• GST-registered business: a business that IRAS has registered, which must charge GST on its taxable sales and file GST returns.
• output tax: the GST you charge your customers on your sales.
• input tax: the GST you pay on business purchases, which a registered business can usually claim back, subject to IRAS rules.
• taxable turnover: the value of your taxable supplies, mainly standard-rated sales in Singapore plus zero-rated sales such as exports. Exempt supplies are left out.
• tax invoice: a document in a prescribed format that a registered business must issue, showing its GST registration number and the GST charged.

The key point is that GST is not an income tax. It is a tax on sales that the business collects on behalf of the government. Your profit has nothing to do with whether you must register. Your sales volume does.

How it works

The registration threshold

You must register for GST if your taxable turnover is more than S$1 million. IRAS tests this in two ways:

• retrospective basis: your taxable turnover for a calendar year went above S$1 million, so you register within 30 days of the end of that year.
• prospective basis: you have reasonable grounds to expect your taxable turnover in the next 12 months to go above S$1 million, so you register within 30 days of that point.

You can also register voluntarily below the threshold. As I understand it, IRAS expects a voluntary registrant to stay registered for a minimum period (two years at the time of writing), and you take on the filing and invoicing duties that come with it. Do not treat voluntary registration as a free upgrade. Read the conditions on the IRAS site first.

What a registered seller does

Once registered, the routine looks like this:

• charge 9% GST on standard-rated sales to customers in Singapore.
• issue tax invoices when required, and keep records for the period IRAS specifies.
• file GST returns, usually every quarter, and pay over the difference between output tax and input tax.
• treat qualifying exports as zero-rated, meaning 0% GST is charged but you can still claim input tax.

For a marketplace seller, “sales” means your sales through the platform, your own website, and anywhere else. The threshold looks at the business as a whole, not at each shop separately.

Where the marketplace fits in

When a buyer pays on Shopee, Lazada or TikTok Shop, the platform collects the payment, takes its commission and service fees, and pays out the balance to you. A few separate things can involve GST here:

• your own sales to buyers: this is your GST position, and it depends on whether you are registered.
• the platform’s fees to you: commission, payment processing and other service fees. Whether GST is added on top, and how it is shown on your statements, is set by the platform and its Singapore entity.
• imported low-value goods: since 1 January 2023, overseas sellers and electronic marketplaces that meet IRAS conditions have been required to register and charge GST on low-value goods (valued at S$400 or less) sent to Singapore by air or post. This matters if you are an overseas seller shipping into Singapore, and it is why some cross-border listings show GST at checkout.

On the platform fee question, I could not verify the exact current treatment of GST on each platform’s fee schedule as of October 2026. Fee pages and seller terms change, and they are the authority here. Check the fee and invoice sections inside Shopee Seller Centre (seller education hub), the Lazada Seller Center and TikTok Shop Seller Center for Singapore. If a statement does not make it clear whether GST is included, ask seller support and keep the reply.

One more practical point. If you are not GST-registered, a platform fee that includes GST is just a cost to you, because you cannot claim the GST back. If you are registered, the GST on a valid tax invoice from a registered supplier may be claimable as input tax. That depends on you holding a proper document, which is why invoices matter.

Why it matters

Here are the reasons I would care, even if you are nowhere near S$1 million.

1. it decides your pricing. If you register, you either add 9% on top of your price or absorb it from your margin. Sellers who forget this when approaching the threshold can find a good margin turning thin overnight.
2. it shapes your records from day one. Order exports, payout statements and supplier invoices all feed a GST return later. Tidy records are far easier to build in month three than to reconstruct in year three.
3. it affects what you can claim. Registered sellers may recover input tax on business purchases. Unregistered sellers cannot. That changes how you compare suppliers, software and fulfilment costs.
4. it connects to platform compliance. Marketplaces can ask for business documents, and mismatched or missing information can trigger reviews. I cover the general pattern in why seller accounts get suspended. GST is rarely the direct cause, but sloppy paperwork makes every review harder.

If you are comparing how stock gets to buyers, the cost side matters too. The fulfilment options on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop have different fee structures, and each fee line is something you will eventually reconcile against your GST position.

Common misconceptions

“I sell on a marketplace, so the platform handles my GST.” Not for your own sales. A platform may handle GST on certain imported low-value goods under the IRAS rules, but whether you are registered and what you charge on your local sales is your responsibility. Do not assume the platform is filing anything on your behalf.

“I have to register as soon as I start selling.” No. The registration threshold is S$1 million of taxable turnover. Below that, registration is voluntary. Starting a small side business does not by itself require GST registration, though other obligations such as business registration and income tax still apply, which is a separate topic.

“If I am not registered, I can add GST to my prices anyway.” No. Only a GST-registered business may charge GST. If you are not registered, you should not show a separate GST line or imply that your price includes GST. Check IRAS guidance on this before quoting prices to business customers.

“GST on platform fees means the platform is registered, so I am too.” Those are two separate facts. A platform charging GST on its fees tells you about the platform’s status, not yours. And in Singapore, whether you must register depends on your own taxable turnover, not on how much you pay in fees.

For readers who also sell in other markets, the picture differs by country. The Malaysian withholding tax and SST question for marketplace ads and the Philippine BIR registration question for casual Shopee sellers show how a different tax authority sets different triggers. Never assume Singapore rules apply across the region.

Where to go from here

If you want to keep learning, here is the order I would follow:

• read the IRAS GST pages in full, starting with registration and the section on overseas vendors and electronic marketplaces. The rules and thresholds are published there, and they are the version that counts. The IRAS GST page is the best starting point. The Ministry of Finance (mof.gov.sg) also publishes the Budget announcements that set the rates.
• pull your platform fee statements for one month and note which lines show GST. This is the quickest way to see how fees reach your payout, and the fulfilment options explainer helps you understand the logistics lines.
• review how platform compliance works so your documents stay consistent. Why seller accounts get suspended is a good primer.
• browse the rest of the explainers on the seller desk blog index and pick the next topic that fits your stage.

One rule I keep: a platform seller centre is the authority on its own fees, and IRAS is the authority on tax. If I cannot confirm something on either, I say so and ask. If your sales are approaching the threshold, or you are unsure how to treat a fee or an invoice, talk to a qualified accountant or contact IRAS directly. This is not tax advice, and I am not affiliated with Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop or IRAS.

Written by Xavier Fok

disclosure: this article may contain affiliate links. if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. verdicts are independent of payouts. last reviewed by Xavier Fok on 2026-10-15.