Dear Members,
GST GUIDE FOR THE FUND MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY – Update / Industry Feedback Session
The IMAS Working Group on issues regarding the IRAS e-Tax Guide (GST Guide for the Fund Management Industry [First Edition – 01 July 2009]) met with the IRAS on 15 January 2010.
With PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers Services LLP) as our professional advisor, the Working Group engaged the IRAS on the concerns raised by our industry (your feedback) in areas where it was felt that the e-Tax Guide does not in some circumstances take into account the full ramifications of costs (operational systems, legal, tax, etc) and operational details of implementing the GST Guide as it is currently written. The IRAS was very receptive and it was a fruitful discussion.
The industry will be given an overview of the issues discussed, including the following:
a. When a fund manager will be treated as agent in relation to the sale of units of unit
trusts;
b. The proxy to be used, if information relating to the tax residency of end-investors is not
available;
c. Reporting of front-end load for GST purposes;
d. Extension of time for compliance with agreed points.
There are two areas that we have to subsequently provide industry feedback on to the IRAS:
1. Determining the appropriate proxy approach where the GST treatment of the Front End
Load (FEL) is dependent on the belonging status of the investors.
2. The effective date for the compliance with the e-Tax Guide including filing of GST
returns, proposed to start from 01 April 2010.
The industry feedback session (including a brief overview of the IRAS-IMAS Working Group 15 January 2010 meeting) will convene at:
Venue: PricewaterhouseCoopers, 17th Floor, PWC Building
8 Cross Street, Singapore 048424
Date: 27th January 2010
Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Your feedback is important to ensure a fair representation of the industry. If you are interested to attend this industry feedback session, please register with us at replies@imas.org.sg. Registration is free and is limited to 2 representatives per member firm.
As seating is limited (not more than 50 in total), we will confirm registration on a “first come, first served basis”.
We look forward to meeting you at this session.
Kind regards,
IMAS Secretariat
