Singapore: GST (IRAS) (0 · 9%)
GST F5 (the quarterly GST return), CPF (the employer pension contribution) and InvoiceNow (the national e-invoice network) are on the Singapore roadmap. Basic support is in place, and we complete it together with early-access customers.
From December 2026Does Kinnow support GST in Singapore? GST F5 (the quarterly GST return), CPF (the employer pension contribution) and InvoiceNow (the national e-invoice network) are on the Singapore roadmap. Basic support is in place, and we complete it together with early-access customers.
- Tax system
- GST (IRAS) (0 · 9%)
- E-invoicing
- InvoiceNow (Peppol) - basic support only
- Tax ID
- UEN / GST registration no.
- Filings
- GST F5 (quarterly)
- Payroll
- CPF, SDL
- Privacy
- PDPA 2012
- Marketing consent
- PDPA consent + DNC Registry honoured
- Dates
- DD/MM/YYYY
- Numbers
- 1,234,567.89
Terms your team will see
Singapore's terms, in plain words
Your team will meet these words in Kinnow. Here is what each one means.
| Term | In plain words |
|---|---|
| GST | Goods and services tax, charged on most sales in Singapore. Kinnow applies 9%, so check the current rate with your adviser. |
| IRAS | Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the tax authority. |
| GST F5 | The GST return. It is filed every quarter and reports what you sold, what you bought and the tax on each. |
| myTax Portal and CorpPass | IRAS's online filing site, and the business login you need to use it. |
| CPF | Central Provident Fund, the retirement and housing savings scheme. For citizens and permanent residents, both employer and employee pay in each month. |
| SDL | Skills Development Levy, a small payroll levy that only the employer pays. |
| UEN | Unique Entity Number, the registration number your business is given. It appears on your invoices. |
| InvoiceNow | Singapore's national e-invoice network, built on the Peppol standard. Your invoice goes from your software to your customer's software through a registered go-between, called an access point. |
| ACRA and MOM | ACRA is the company registrar. MOM is the Ministry of Manpower, which sets employment record rules. |
| ECI and Form C-S / C | ECI is Estimated Chargeable Income, an early estimate of your taxable profit. Form C-S / C is the yearly company income-tax return. |
| IR8A | The yearly statement of each employee's pay that employers send to IRAS. |
| PDPA and DNC Registry | The Personal Data Protection Act 2012, and the Do Not Call list that marketing messages must respect. |
What Kinnow prepares for you
Each area below starts from December 2026. Each row says what Kinnow does and when it starts.
| Area | What Kinnow does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Indirect tax (GST) | Works out GST on each invoice line: 9%, nothing on exports to a customer outside Singapore, and nothing on a starter list of exempt items (residential rent and sale, some financial services, life insurance, loan interest, digital payment tokens, investment-grade precious metals). Checks that a UEN or GST number has a valid shape, and that a tax invoice is headed “Tax Invoice”. The groundwork to build boxes 1 to 8 of the GST F5 from your invoices is in place and is completed before launch; your team reviews and files it. Kinnow does not submit. | From December 2026 |
| E-invoicing | Sends an invoice over InvoiceNow on a test connection. It refuses to send an invoice that has no supplier UEN, so no invoice goes out without a traceable sender. Going live needs a registered access point, which is a contract and not only software. | From December 2026, on a test connection |
| Payroll statutory | Works out CPF by age band, the Skills Development Levy, and a payslip that shows both. Withholds no income tax, because Singapore does not ask employers to deduct it for citizens and permanent residents. Details are in the next section. | From December 2026 |
| Data protection | Applies consent, retention and erasure rules under the PDPA, and honours the Do Not Call Registry for marketing. The financial records the law makes you keep stay in place when someone asks to be erased. | From December 2026 |
| Registrations and calendar | Tracks your company's yearly dates (AGM, annual return, ECI, corporate tax return) and, once you tell Kinnow your IRAS accounting cycle, your GST F5 dates. See the year table below. | From December 2026 |
Tell us about your quarter-end GST and we will show you how the F5 will be built. Send us last quarter's sales and purchase list.
Payroll in Singapore, in plain words
- Kinnow asks rather than guesses. CPF depends on age and on whether the person is a citizen, permanent resident or work-pass holder. If an employee has no date of birth or no residency status on file, the payslip stops and says what is missing.
- CPF changes with age. There are five age bands, and the contribution is worked out on wages up to a monthly ceiling, not on pay above it. A high month cannot be offset by a low one.
- Work-pass holders pay no CPF. They attract a foreign worker levy instead. Kinnow notes this on the payslip but does not work the levy out.
- Skills Development Levy. It is a small percentage of monthly wages with a minimum and a maximum, paid by the employer only.
- No income tax is withheld. Citizens and permanent residents settle income tax with IRAS themselves, and the employer reports pay once a year on the IR8A. The one exception is a foreign employee who is leaving: you hold what you owe them until IRAS gives clearance (form IR21). That is a person's job, not a monthly deduction.
- There is no legal severance pay in Singapore. Kinnow does not make up a figure. It says so on screen, because what an employee gets on retrenchment is contractual, customary or negotiated.
- One check is still open. The CPF rate table is still to be compared with CPF Board's published rates. Ask your adviser to confirm it before your first payroll.
A year of filings
These are the dates Kinnow tracks for a Singapore company. For each, a task appears ahead of the date and alerts follow as it gets close. Rules and notified dates change, so your adviser confirms the date that applies to your company.
| What | When | What Kinnow does |
|---|---|---|
| GST F5 | Each quarter, due one month after the quarter ends. Your IRAS cycle decides which months your quarters end in (March, January or February cycles). | Shows the dates once you record your cycle. It will not guess a cycle, because a wrong guess is wrong on every return of the year. Groundwork to build boxes 1 to 8 is completed before launch. |
| Monthly CPF contribution | Every month | Works out the employee and employer shares in the payroll run and lists the monthly CPF submission as due. A person submits to CPF Board. |
| Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) | Within three months of your financial year end | Reminds you ahead of time. Filing it late costs you the instalment option on your tax, so the whole amount falls due at once. |
| Annual General Meeting (AGM) | Within six months of your financial year end | Tracked on its own line, because it falls a month before the annual return and the return depends on it. |
| ACRA annual return | Within seven months of your financial year end | Tracked separately from the AGM, so the earlier date is not hidden. |
| Corporate tax return (Form C-S / C) | Yearly, 30 November | Reminds you ahead of the date. |
| Work pass quota check | Reviewed monthly, only if you hire foreign workers | Tracks the share of work-pass holders against your local headcount. Going over blocks renewals rather than raising a penalty. |
| IR8A, IR8S and Appendix 8A | Yearly | Listed as due. Kinnow does not produce these forms. |
| IR21 tax clearance | When a foreign employee leaves | Listed as due. A person holds the money and files. |
How a GST F5 will be prepared
Nothing is filed, paid or posted without a person.
- Your accounts team records invoices and bills. Kinnow picks GST per line: 9%, no GST for an export, no GST for an exempt item. Your accountant corrects any line that is classed wrongly.
- The quarter ends. Sales and purchases are already summed by type, so nobody rebuilds a spreadsheet.
- Your finance head asks for the F5 for that period. Once the F5 groundwork is completed before launch, Kinnow fills boxes 1 to 8: standard-rated supplies, zero-rated supplies (exports sit here), exempt supplies, total supplies, taxable purchases (imports and reverse-charge purchases included), output tax, input tax claimed and the net GST.
- Kinnow lists what looks wrong. The Filing Prep agent flags mismatches against the books for a person to clear. Like every agent, it is validated with each client before it works on their books.
- Your adviser checks the boxes the first time. The box layout was written from the published F5 and has not yet been checked against IRAS's current specification. A wrong box still adds up, so the first return needs a second pair of eyes.
- A person exports the document. Your finance head approves the figures and downloads the F5 file.
- An authorised person files it. Kinnow does not submit. Someone with your business's CorpPass logs in to the IRAS myTax Portal and files, then pays the balance.
Tell us about your own quarter and we will show you how each box will be built.
What your adviser still does
- Confirms your GST registration, your IRAS accounting cycle and the current GST rate.
- Checks the F5 box layout and the CPF rates before your first filing and first payroll.
- Decides how unusual items are treated, because Kinnow's exempt list is only a starter list.
- Files the F5, the CPF submission, the ECI, the corporate tax return and the ACRA annual return, using your business's own logins.
- Handles IR8A, IR8S, Appendix 8A and IR21 at year end or when a foreign employee leaves.
Questions
Does Kinnow support GST in Singapore?
GST F5 (the quarterly GST return), CPF (the employer pension contribution) and InvoiceNow (the national e-invoice network) are on the Singapore roadmap. Basic support is in place, and we complete it together with early-access customers.
Is Kinnow ready for Singapore today?
We are finishing this country setup together with early-access customers. Talk to us about joining.
How does Kinnow handle PDPA 2012?
Kinnow applies the consent, retention and erasure rules for you. When someone asks to be erased, their data goes from files, search and AI memory too, while the financial records the law makes you keep stay in place.
Will Kinnow file my GST F5 with IRAS?
No. The groundwork to fill boxes 1 to 8 and give you the document is completed before launch. A person with your business's CorpPass files it on the IRAS myTax Portal. The box layout also needs your adviser's check the first time.
Does Kinnow send my invoices over InvoiceNow?
Only on a test connection from December 2026. Going live needs a registered access point. Until then, keep sending invoices the way you do today.
Does Kinnow deduct income tax from salaries in Singapore?
No. Singapore does not ask employers to withhold income tax for citizens and permanent residents, so the payslip shows CPF and the employer's levy only. The exception is a departing foreign employee, where you hold payments until IRAS gives clearance.
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