If your business has missed one or more GST returns, IRAS will not wait for you. It issues an estimated Notice of Assessment with a 5% late payment penalty on the estimated tax, imposes a S$200 late submission penalty straight away, adds S$200 for every completed month the return stays outstanding (up to S$10,000 per return), and for repeated non-filing can issue a Notice to Attend Court to the business and the people running it, including directors. The fix is the same in every case: file the actual GST F5 returns as soon as possible, because the estimate is only replaced when the real return is filed, and only if it is filed within five years of the end of the period.
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File before it becomes a court matter. Every month of delay adds a penalty, and a Notice to Attend Court means a director may have to appear in person, with a fine of up to S$5,000 per offence on conviction and a possible warrant of arrest for failing to attend. Filing the outstanding returns and paying what is due is the only way back. Deal with it now and properly; do not guess the figures to make the notices stop.
What IRAS does when a GST return is late
From IRAS’s page on late filing or non-filing of GST returns:
| Action | What it means |
|---|---|
| Estimated Notice of Assessment | IRAS estimates the GST from information it has, and imposes a 5% late payment penalty on the estimate |
| Late submission penalty | S$200 as soon as the due date is missed, then S$200 for every completed month the return remains outstanding, up to S$10,000 per return |
| Notice to Attend Court / Summons | For repeated failure to file, issued to the business and/or the people responsible for running it, including directors |
| On conviction | A fine of up to S$5,000 for each offence, and the returns must still be filed |
GST returns and payment are due one month after the end of each accounting period, and IRAS says no extension will be granted. A business with no activity in a period must still file a nil return.
The estimate is not the final bill
An estimated assessment can be higher or lower than the GST really due. IRAS’s examples on late payment of GST show both: when the real return is filed, the GST and the 5% penalty are revised up or down to match it, and if the actual GST is nil, both fall to nil. But:
- The estimate is only revised if the GST F5 or F8 is submitted within 5 years from the end of the relevant period.
- The GST (and 5% penalty) stated must be paid by the due date on the penalty notice, or recovery action can follow.
- If GST remains unpaid 60 days after the 5% penalty, a further 2% a month can be added, up to 50% of the unpaid tax.
- For unpaid GST, IRAS can appoint the company’s bank or others as agents to collect. See IRAS appointing your bank as agent.
Catching up: the order of work
- List every missing return from myTax Portal, with the estimated assessments and penalty notices for each.
- Rebuild the books period by period: sales invoices, purchase invoices, imports, bank statements. Estimates from bank deposits are often wrong because they ignore input tax and zero-rated sales.
- Prepare each F5 from the records, checking that input tax is supported by valid tax invoices.
- File the oldest returns first and keep the acknowledgements.
- Pay the GST and penalties that result. If cash is tight, contact IRAS early to ask whether a payment arrangement is possible, rather than leaving the debt unpaid.
- Appeal the late submission penalties only if the conditions are met. See IRAS penalty waiver appeals.
- Fix the cause: a monthly bookkeeping routine and a filing calendar. See what a GST filing service should cover.
If you have a Notice to Attend Court
IRAS says that, to avoid attending court, you must file the outstanding GST returns and pay the composition amount (quoting the payment slip number) by the deadline in the notice; GIRO cannot be used. If you need more time, someone must attend court on the date with a letter of authorisation to ask for a postponement. Failing to attend can lead to a warrant of arrest against the sole proprietor, partner or director. Do not ignore the date.
Example
Example only, not a client case. A small trading company missed three quarterly returns while the director was overseas. IRAS issued estimated assessments of S$6,000 a quarter. When the books were rebuilt, the company found that most of its sales were exports, zero-rated with the right evidence, and its actual GST was S$1,100, S$900 and S$1,400. Filing the three returns brought the assessments and the 5% penalties down to match. The late submission penalties remained, and as the company had not filed on time in the past year, no waiver was available. The company set up a quarterly filing routine.
Frequently asked questions
Should we just pay the estimated assessment?
Paying does not file the return. The late submission penalties and legal action can continue until the actual return is filed, and the estimate may be wrong in either direction.
What if we find errors in returns we already filed?
Those are corrected with a GST F7, and a voluntary disclosure can reduce penalties. See IRAS voluntary disclosure.
The business has stopped. Do we still file?
Yes, until GST registration is cancelled. See cancelling GST registration when closing a company.
More on the tax and GST hub.
Behind on GST returns?
If your company has missed GST returns or received estimated assessments, penalty notices or a Notice to Attend Court, contact the Raffles Corporate Services team at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +65 8501 7133. We will help you understand the notices and deadlines, rebuild the books, prepare and file the outstanding GST F5 returns and set up a filing routine. Where a court matter needs a lawyer, we will refer you to an adviser from one of our associated law firms. This article is general information, not tax advice.
Kevin Yeo, Raffles Corporate Services