January 2026 fifth edition
The eight-page guide shifts accounting for prescribed non-residential property purchases from seller to GST-registered listed REIT or qualifying GST-registered SPV, easing cash flow. It does not exempt the transaction from GST or automatically make all input tax recoverable. REIT treatment began 1 July 2006, SPVs 1 January 2009, and accompanying movable assets 1 January 2018.
Scope and the going-concern check
Section 38 and regulation 104 A cover immovable property and accompanying furnishings, fittings, appliances/effects, including equipment/machinery. Movables must be supplied WITH the property; ordinary standalone purchases are different. For property with existing tenancies, the seller first assesses transfer-of-business-as-going-concern conditions, which may mean no GST charge.
REIT and SPV eligibility
A GST-registered REIT is a collective investment scheme authorised under Securities and Futures Act section 286 and must be SGX-listed or list within ONE MONTH of property supply. Its GST-registered SPV is either a company established by the REIT to hold properties, or a trust established for its trustee to hold REIT properties. Both REIT and relevant SPV GST status matter.
All eleven veto-right matters
The REIT trustee must veto key SPV operational issues: constitutional/JV/trust-document amendments; business cessation/change; winding-up/dissolution; equity structure; dividend policy; securities issue; borrowing; asset security; asset transfer/disposal; asset enhancement/capital expenditure plans; and interested-party transactions. Provide the rights in the constitutive/JV/trust documents. Paragraph 4.3 expressly has force of law, so this is more than an informal oversight preference.
Buyer: notify and report both sides
Notify seller in writing that conditions and regulation 104 A prescribed-supply treatment are met. In the supply period, include output GST and property-plus-movables value as standard-rated supplies. Report taxable purchase and input tax in the same period, with normal input-tax conditions under sections 19–20. Self-accounting does not guarantee full offset.
Partial exemption apportionment
For partially exempt buyers exclude this property/movables sale price from BOTH numerator and denominator of input-tax apportionment. The administrative standard-rated-supply entry does not make the seller’s property the buyer’s own supply. The source footnote separately reserves GST-registration purposes under the First Schedule.
Seller: invoice and consideration
Collect GST-exclusive property/movables price, issue a tax invoice with normal particulars and an explicit clause that the buyer pays the displayed output GST to the Comptroller. The guide’s sample clause can omit movables wording where absent. Report GST-exclusive value as standard-rated supplies in the supply period; do not collect the output GST from the qualifying buyer.
Special supply date and mixed property
Prescribed supply occurs only when the property is made available, usually sale completion. Invoice or advance payment does NOT trigger supply here, unlike ordinary non-prescribed property. For mixed residential/non-residential property only the non-residential portion receives this prescribed treatment.
Edition changes and enquiry
2014 added going-concern/REIT-definition footnotes and apportionment explanation; 2018 extended to accompanying movables; September 2025 updated contact information; January 2026 made editorial changes. Enquiries use IRAS Contact Us for GST. Keep written eligibility notification, constitutive evidence, invoice and completion records aligned.
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
Read the official PDF ↗