IRAS What about the 5% of traders facing delay of GST refunds?
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras), in its response, highlighted its refunds for the majority of GST-registered traders (Over 95% of GST refunds paid out within 7 days, Feb 21).

It did not address the 5 per cent of GST-registered traders, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), which face delay of their entitlement to a refund under Sections 19 and 20 of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act.

It was a key issue highlighted in my letter (Give SMEs more help in this tough climate, Feb 15).

As stated in my previous letter, I know of three SMEs that have had millions of dollars of their GST entitlement "frozen" for more than three years.

Iras disclosure of the data listed in my letter is critical for businesses and, contrary to the Iras reply, this data is not published at data.gov.sg, or at least I was not able to find it.

The Iras made the statement that businesses may "take their appeals through the Goods and Services Tax Board of Review, an independent tribunal, for dispute resolution".

This statement omitted to mention a crucial fact that under Section 49 of the GST Act, if the Comptroller of GST does not give his consent, businesses cannot take their case to this "independent tribunal".

Iras should explain how the tribunal is "independent" if a taxpayer cannot file an appeal without the consent of Iras.

Iras should also disclose how many cases have been heard by the GST Board of Review over the past 10 years, which would give an indication of its effectiveness.

Taxpayers would agree that "Iras has to safeguard revenue for the state". Accordingly, Iras owes an explanation to taxpayers as to why the people behind the "suspected" fraudulent claims made in 2016 have not been taken to court.

Surely, it does not take three years to identify whether a GST claim is genuine or fraudulent.

Manmohan Singh

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/what-about-the-5-of-traders-facing-delay-of-gst-refunds

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