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Goods (e.g. new or used articles, online purchases, gifts) imported by post or courier services are subject to payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or duty.

This status means that your item may be held for the following reasons:

1. It contains dutiable goods,
2. It contains controlled goods,
3. It contains prohibited goods, and/or
4. The parcel contains goods of a total Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value above S$400 and/or does not have an invoice attached to it at the time of arrival.

For more information on the import procedures for goods imported via postal or courier services, you may refer to Singapore Customs' website here.

If you do not receive any notification via SingPost app or email/letter from SingPost, please contact SingPost directly.

You will be notified through the SingPost app or via email/letter to make the necessary payment within 14 days from the date of notification. Your items will be delivered within 2 to 3 working days upon the payment of the duties and/or GST to SingPost.

There will no longer be any self-collection of items containing dutiable goods at SingPost Centre (previously ICA Counter at SingPost Centre) with effect from 1 November 2021.

Singapore Customs, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and SingPost will be rolling out a new process for the collection of duty and/or Goods & Services tax (GST) for parcel imports, following the closure of the ICA counter at SingPost Centre from 1 December 2021. This new process seeks to provide greater convenience to members of the public by promoting the use of contactless services in view of the global growth in e-commerce parcel imports.

The new initiative is also part of the Smart Nation initiative to support better living using technology.

SingPost will be collecting the duty and/or GST for parcel imports from customers, on behalf of Singapore Customs. All dutiable SpeedPost items will be delivered once the necessary documents and payments are received. All duty and GST will have to be paid in full prior to delivery.

All imported goods will continue to be subjected to examination by ICA.

With the closure of the ICA counter at SingPost Centre, how do I receive my dutiable items imported via postal service?

When your dutiable items arrive in Singapore, you will be informed through a notification via your SingPost App and/or SMS/Email/Letter if the commercial invoice is attached.

For dutiable parcels without a commercial invoice attached, you will be notified by SingPost via a notification letter to provide the relevant documents. Please note that SingPost may impose an administrative fee for additional services rendered.

As such, to facilitate SingPost's processing and to prevent delay of the delivery of your parcel, you should arrange with your sender to attach the invoice to the parcel for the computation of the GST and/or duty payable. You can also email the invoice to SingPost at g-dps@singpost.com.

Once all information required to process your delivery is available and payment is received, SingPost will deliver the postal parcel to you within 2 to 3 working days.

The item(s) will be returned to the sender if it remains unclaimed after 14 days from date of notification.

Once you have received the notification, you can proceed to make your payment(s) via the SingPost App, SAM kiosk and at all post offices. Quote your Tracking number for all payment modes.

All goods (e.g. new or used articles, online purchases, gifts) brought into Singapore are subjected to prevailing Goods & Services Tax (GST) on the value of goods, which may include the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) plus other chargeable costs and the duty payable (if applicable). You are required to pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the value of the goods that exceeds the amount of GST relief* granted.

* GST relief is granted on goods imported by post or air, excluding intoxicating liquors and tobacco, with a total Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value not exceeding S$400. Please note that GST relief is not granted for goods imported by other transport modes e.g. sea freight and land unless specified here.

All goods imported into Singapore are subject to prevailing Goods & Services Tax (GST) on the value of goods, which may include the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) plus other chargeable costs and the duty payable (if applicable).

Please visit Singapore Customs' website for more information on how GST is computed.

* GST relief is granted on goods imported by post or air, excluding intoxicating liquors and tobacco, with a total Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value not exceeding S$400. Please note that GST relief is not granted for goods imported by other transport modes e.g. sea freight and land unless specified here.

All dutiable goods imported into or manufactured in Singapore are subject to customs duty and/or excise duty.

Customs duty is duty levied on goods imported into Singapore, excluding excise duty. Excise duty is duty levied on goods manufactured in, or imported into, Singapore.

In addition, please note that with effect from 1 July 2020, all cigarettes and other tobacco products imported into, sold, offered for sale or distributed in Singapore must comply with the new Standardised Packaging (SP) requirements. It is an offence to import cigarettes and other tobacco products with packaging or labelling that do not comply with the SP requirements, regardless of their intended use or purpose. If the parcels contain non-SP compliant packaging, they will be re-sealed and returned to the sender.

However, Singapore residents will still be able to import tobacco products from other countries for their personal use, by post, but only if these tobacco products are fully compliant with Singapore's SP regulations. For further information, please refer to HSA's website or contact Ministry of Health (MOH) through email at moh_info@moh.gov.sg.

The duties are based on ad valorem or specific rates. An ad valorem rate is a percentage of the goods' customs value (for example, 20% of the customs value). A specific rate is a specified amount per unit of weight or other quantity (for example, S$388.00 per kilogramme).

There are 4 categories of dutiable goods:

• Intoxicating liquors
• Tobacco products
• Motor vehicles
• Petroleum products and biodiesel blends

Please refer to the list of dutiable goods on Singapore Customs' website for their respective duty rates. All other products are non-dutiable.

The computation of duty and GST payable for the importation of cigarettes / tobacco products into Singapore is as follows:

1. Duty payable = Total weight (in kg) x Duty Rate
   The excise duty rates for cigarettes and tobacco products are listed on Singapore Customs' website here.
2. GST payable = Prevailing GST rate x (Value of cigarettes in S$ + Duty payable)
3. Total duty and GST payable = (a) Duty + (b) GST

The computation for duty and GST payable for the importation of liquor products into Singapore is as follows:

1. Duty payable = Total volume (in litres) x Duty Rate x Alcoholic Strength
   Please note that the customs/excise duty rate would depend on the HS Code of the liquor product, as listed on Singapore Customs' website here.
2. GST payable = Prevailing GST rate x (Value of cigarettes in S$ + Duty payable)
3. Total duty and GST payable = (a) Duty + (b) GST

Please visit Singapore Customs' website for more information on the calculation of duty and GST.

A handling fee is charged for the processing, tracking, handling and delivery of the parcel imports.

If the parcels are not accompanied by any invoice(s) or other supporting documents indicating the value and quantity, a Notification Letter will be sent to the recipient to request for the documents for validation by ICA. An administrative fee may be levied for the additional services rendered for the parcel imports.

The Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) is administered by Singapore Customs on behalf of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). The scheme allows tourists to claim a refund of the GST paid on goods purchased from participating retailers if the goods are brought out of Singapore via Changi International Airport or Seletar Airport only. SingPost does not participate in the TRS and will not be able to process any GST refund.

For more information on the scheme's qualifying conditions and tourist eligibility criteria, please refer to IRAS' webpage on Tourist Refund Scheme.

If there is any overpayment or wrong payment of duties or GST, you can make a claim for refund through SingPost. For more information on the refund procedures, you may refer to Singapore Customs' website here.

You may reach out to us via https://www.singpost.com/contact-us with the supporting documents mentioned below.

• Copy of GST/duty payment receipt
• Commercial invoice
• Consignment/dispatch note for the imported goods
• Export and refund document for returned faulty goods (for example, shipment advice, seller's credit note, etc)
• Documentary evidence showing that the money paid for the returned goods was credited back to the buyer

Any other documents to support the claim for refund (for example, Customs In- Non-Payment (GST Relief) permit, etc)

Singapore Customs does not collect any clearance fee for the clearance of goods in Singapore, other than payment of duty or GST depending on the goods you are importing.

SingPost is authorised to charge a fee to process, track, handle and deliver the goods.

If you suspect you may be a victim of a scam, you are advised to lodge a report with the police.

Singapore Customs does not have the information on the status of parcels as the tracking and/or delivery of postal parcels is handled by SingPost.

A parcel by post may be detained if:

1. It contains dutiable goods,
2. It contains controlled goods,
3. It contains prohibited goods, and/or
4. The parcel contains goods of a total Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value above S$400 and/or does not have an invoice attached to it at the time of arrival.

In the event that your parcel has been held, you will receive a push notification via the SingPost App or via Email/Letter (if your parcel contains an invoice), to request for payment for the duty and/or GST items indicated on the letter. Once payment is received, SingPost will arrange to deliver the parcel items to you within 2 to 3 working days.

In the event your parcel does not contain an invoice, you will receive a notification letter requesting for an invoice. Your parcel will only be delivered once the required documents are submitted, and payment(s) received. For more information on the import procedures for goods imported via postal or courier services, you may refer to Singapore Customs' website here.

If you do not receive any notification call or letter from SingPost, please contact SingPost directly.

In addition, from 1 July 2020, all cigarettes and other tobacco products imported into, sold, offered for sale or distributed in Singapore must comply with the new Standardised Packaging (SP) requirements. It is an offence to import cigarettes and other tobacco products with packaging or labelling that do not comply with the SP requirements, regardless of their intended use or purpose. If the parcels contain non-SP compliant packaging, they will be re-sealed and returned to the sender.

However, Singapore residents will still be able to import tobacco products from other countries for their personal use, by post, but only if these tobacco products are fully compliant with Singapore's SP regulations. For further information, please refer to HSA's website or contact Ministry of Health (MOH) through email at moh_info@moh.gov.sg.

The weighing of tobacco products (e.g. cigars/cheroots/cigarillos) is conducted by ICA and witnessed by SingPost at the Airmail Transit Centre. Prior to weighing, internal packaging such as plastic bags and bubble wrap will be removed. However, cigars with individual packaging such as outer bands and shrink wraps will not have such packaging removed for weighing to preserve the integrity and quality of the product.