Tourists, foreign residents accounted for about 50% of GST revenue in 2018 and 2019: Wong

The net annual GST during the period was around $5.7b.

About half of the net GST revenue recorded in 2018 and 2019 was from tourists and foreigners residing in Singapore, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong revealed.

Meanwhile, close to 20% was paid by the top 20% of resident households.

In his response to the Parliament, Wong said that during the period the net annual GST was around $5.7b.

The ministry came up with the figure after netting off GST Vouchers of over $1b provided annually to Singaporean households.

“We have not used data for 2020 and 2021, as they are not representative of general consumption patterns due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wong explained.

When asked about the Tourist Refund Scheme, Wong said an average of $200 million per year were refunded to tourists from 2010 to 2019, translating to around 2% of the total GST collections.

“The refunds in 2020 and 2021 were much lower, averaging at around $22 million per year, due to travel restrictions associated with COVID-19,” he explained.