Quotations and orders

A quotation is your offer: the price and terms you are prepared to sell at. A purchase order is the customer’s confirmation that they want to buy. Neither bills the customer, but both are evidence of the deal, and tax law refers to them in a few places. This page covers those places. It is general information, not tax or legal advice: check the sources at the end or ask your accountant before you rely on it.

In short

• A quotation and a purchase order are not invoices. The tax invoice follows when you bill.
• In Singapore, a GST-registered business quotes prices to the public including GST; “$100 + GST” on its own is not acceptable.
• Accepted quotations and confirmed purchase orders are evidence: of a forecast for GST registration in Singapore, and of the delivery terms that support an out-of-scope sale.
• In Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, the buyer may create the tax invoice instead of you, under an agreement; in Japan a buyer’s confirmed purchase statement can serve the same purpose.
• In Japan, for income and corporate tax, quotations and orders exchanged electronically are kept as electronic data.

Country by country

Singapore

If you are GST-registered, the prices you display and quote to the public must include GST, whether written or spoken, on price tags, adverts or websites. You may show both prices if the GST-inclusive price is at least as prominent, but not “Prices stated are exclusive of GST” without the inclusive price. A breach can lead to a fine of up to S$5,000. Hotels and food and beverage outlets that charge a service charge may show prices before GST with a prominent statement such as “Prices are subject to GST and service charge”. IRAS also lists sales orders and pro-forma invoices among documents that are not invoices for GST. When you register for GST on a forecast of turnover, accepted quotations and confirmed purchase orders support it; for an out-of-scope sale, a purchase order that shows the delivery terms is among the supporting documents to keep. Under self-billing, a GST-registered customer may prepare your tax invoice instead of you, once it has completed IRAS’s self-review of eligibility; no further approval from IRAS is needed.

Hong Kong

There is no sales tax, so no price-display rule ties your quotations to tax. A quotation and a purchase order remain useful business records; see Keeping records.

Australia

A tax invoice must, among other things, make clear that it is intended to be a tax invoice. Under the recipient-created tax invoice rules, government-related entities and large businesses may issue the tax invoice for what they buy, and other GST-registered buyers may do so where they determine the value. Both parties are registered, there is a written agreement, the buyer issues it within 28 days and keeps it for 5 years, and you as the supplier do not issue your own tax invoice for those sales.

New Zealand

A GST-registered buyer purchasing from a GST-registered seller may provide buyer-created taxable supply information, without Inland Revenue’s approval, when both agree that only the buyer provides it. It shows both GST numbers. A business that calls tenders for a future supply states in its advertisement whether the tenders must include GST.

Japan

What a document is called does not decide whether it is a qualified invoice: its contents do. A buyer’s own purchase statement (仕入明細書) can serve as the invoice for its tax deduction once the supplier has confirmed it and it shows the supplier’s registration number. For income and corporate tax, quotations, orders, contracts and invoices sent or received electronically are electronic transaction data and are kept electronically.

Malaysia and Brunei

No official Malaysian statement on quotations or purchase orders for service tax was found. Brunei has no GST or VAT.

In easySales

• A quotation starts as a draft with a QD- number and takes its QN- number when you finalise it. See Finalise a quotation.
• Set the Expires date for your offer. An expired quotation stays Open and shows a notice. See Create a quotation.
• Select Mark as sent to record the day the customer received it, so follow-up reminders count from then. See Mark as sent.
• When the customer confirms, select Raise invoice and enter their Customer PO number on the invoice so their accounts team can match it. See Raise an invoice.

Examples

Lim & Co, GST-registered in Singapore, quotes a homeowner for a kitchen design. The quotation shows SGD 3,000.00, GST 9% of SGD 270.00 and the total of SGD 3,270.00, shown at least as prominently as the price before GST, so the quotation meets the rule. Writing only “SGD 3,000.00 + GST” would not meet IRAS’s price display rules.

Harbour Café accepts a quotation and sends purchase order PO-7781. When Daniel Lim raises the invoice, he enters PO-7781 as the Customer PO number.

Common questions

• Is a quotation a tax invoice? No. A quotation is an offer, not a bill for payment; in Singapore an invoice for GST is a document that bills for payment. Issue the tax invoice when you bill.
• Do quotations have to include GST in Singapore? Prices quoted to the public by a GST-registered business must include GST. Showing the price before GST as well is allowed if the inclusive price is at least as prominent.
• What is the difference between a quotation and a purchase order? The quotation is the seller’s offer; the purchase order is the buyer’s confirmation that they want to buy.
• Can a customer issue the tax invoice for me? In Singapore under self-billing, in Australia under the recipient-created tax invoice rules, and in New Zealand as buyer-created taxable supply information, when you agree.
• Do I need to keep quotations and purchase orders? They support your records, for example a GST registration forecast or an out-of-scope sale in Singapore. In Japan, for income and corporate tax, electronic ones are kept electronically.
• What happens when a quotation expires? In easySales it stays Open; the expiry date only shows a notice. Agree with the customer whether the offer still stands.

Sources

Last checked: 21 October 2026.

• IRAS — Invoicing customers
• IRAS — Displaying and quoting prices
• IRAS — When to report supplies in GST returns
• IRAS — Do I need to register for GST
• IRAS — Out-of-scope supplies
• Federal Register of Legislation — GST Act 1999, section 29-70
• Federal Register of Legislation — Recipient Created Tax Invoice Determination 2023
• Inland Revenue NZ — Buyer-created taxable supply information
• Inland Revenue NZ — GST guide IR375 (PDF)
• National Tax Agency Japan — Tax Answer No. 6625 (Japanese)
• National Tax Agency Japan — Keeping electronic transaction data (PDF, Japanese)

Related

• Quotation or invoice
• Proforma invoices
• Raise an invoice
• Registering for GST