Significant procedural changes for appealing Goods and Services Tax (GST) decisions to the Board of Review (the Board) took effect from 1 April 2025. are now in force. MOF has announced on amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (Appeals Procedure for Board of Review) Regulations 2023, requiring all Notices of Appeal to be filed exclusively through the FormSG digital platform.
Key Changes and Procedures:
- Mandatory Digital Notice of Appeal:
- All Notices of Appeal filed on or after 1 April 2025, must be submitted electronically via FormSG.
- Authentication requires SingPass for individuals or CorpPass for entities.
- The Notice must be filed within 30 days after the date of the Comptroller of GST’s decision on the application for review and revision, accompanied by the Comptroller’s Notice of Refusal to Amend.
- Petition of Appeal Submission:
- Within 30 days of lodging the Notice of Appeal via FormSG, appellants must email a duly completed Petition of Appeal in the prescribed format to gstbr@mof.gov.sg.
- The Petition must be accompanied by the requisite payment to the Board.
- The prescribed format for the Petition is available on the Ministry of Finance (MOF) website.
- Critical Payment Requirements:
- Failure of payment authorization (dishonour or revocation) carries strict consequences.
- If payment is not received within 7 days of notification of dishonour/revocation, the associated Petition of Appeal (or other payment-dependent filing) will be deemed not lodged.
- Crucially, if no Petition of Appeal is lodged in accordance with Section 51(1)(b) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1993, the initial Notice of Appeal is deemed withdrawn.
- Post-Submission Process:
- Upon receipt of the Petition of Appeal, the Board’s Secretary forwards it to the Comptroller.
- Appellants will receive a questionnaire to assist the Board in scheduling (determining suitable dates and hearing timeframe).
- A Case Management Conference (CMC) may be scheduled to:
- Identify disputed issues.
- Explore settlement possibilities.
- Establish procedures if a hearing is necessary.
- Appellants are responsible for preparing and submitting required documents for the hearing, including:
- Agreed Statement of Facts
- Witness Affidavits
- Written Submissions
- Bundle of Authorities
Tax professionals and businesses disputing GST decisions must adhere strictly to these new digital filing mandates and associated deadlines. Failure to comply with the FormSG requirement for the Notice of Appeal or the subsequent Petition of Appeal and payment processes risks the appeal being invalidated or deemed withdrawn.
Source: MOF, 1 April 2025.