GST-registered companies that undertake Assisted Compliance Assurance Programme (ACAP) from 1 April 2012 can look forward to a second tranche of co-funding by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

The IRAS has announced an additional S$5 million (US$3.8 million) budget to co-fund GST-registered businesses 50% of the fees incurred in undertaking ACAP.  This is in addition to the original budget of $5 million set aside by IRAS when ACAP was first launched in April 2011.       

As part of its efforts to facilitate and raise voluntary compliance among GST-registered businesses, IRAS introduced ACAP, a holistic solution for companies to proactively self-manage their GST risks and treat tax risk management as part of their corporate governance framework.

Companies that undertake ACAP within the 5-year period from 5 April 2011 to 4 April 2016 and attain ACAP status will be offered two attractive incentives, namely, 50% co-funding of ACAP fees capped at $50,000; and a one-time waiver of penalties for voluntary disclosures of past GST errors. 

IRAS is the first tax administration in the world to introduce such comprehensive GST compliance guidance that comes with attractive incentives.

The ACAP status also allows businesses to enjoy benefits such as 3 to 5 years of exemption from time-consuming & costly GST audits, faster GST refunds, speedier resolution of GST issues and automatic renewal of GST schemes. 

ACAP helps companies to proactively manage their tax risks and ensure that consistently robust internal controls are in place to detect tax errors early and on a timely basis. 

In the long run, a structure and a visible function that is properly set up to evaluate the impact of GST on the business transactions will ensure the completeness and accuracy of GST reporting. In turn, a reduced risk of GST non-compliance will ultimately allow a business to reap productivity gains – savings in both time and money.