What is the GST registration threshold in Singapore?

Taxable turnover of more than S$1 million in a calendar year, or expected in the next 12 months.

Can I charge GST before I am registered?

No. In Singapore you must not charge or collect GST before your registration date, and in Malaysia an unregistered business must not show service tax on an invoice.

What is the GST threshold in Australia?

A$75,000 of GST turnover, or A$150,000 for a non-profit body. Taxi travel requires registration at any turnover.

What is the GST threshold in New Zealand?

NZ$60,000 of turnover in 12 months, past or expected.

Do I have to register for a Japanese invoice number?

Registering as a qualified invoice issuer is an application of its own. Only a registered issuer may issue a qualified invoice.

Can I register voluntarily?

Yes in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Japan. In Singapore you then stay registered for at least two years.

Does Hong Kong have GST?

No. Hong Kong has no sales tax, VAT or GST.

Registering for GST

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Below a turnover threshold, most businesses do not charge GST. Once sales pass it, registration is compulsory, and from the registration date every taxable sale carries the tax. This page compares the thresholds and what changes on your invoices. 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

Country	Compulsory registration	Voluntary
Singapore	Taxable turnover over S$1 million in a calendar year, or expected over S$1 million in the next 12 months	Yes; you stay registered at least 2 years
Australia	GST turnover of A$75,000 or more (A$150,000 for non-profit bodies); taxi travel at any turnover	Yes, at any turnover
New Zealand	Turnover of NZ$60,000 or more in the last 12 months, or expected in the next 12	Yes, below NZ$60,000
Japan	Taxable sales over ¥10 million in the base period (two years earlier), among other tests	Yes: elect to be a taxable business, or register as a qualified invoice issuer, which also makes you taxable
Malaysia	Service tax: taxable services over RM500,000 in 12 months for most services; sales tax: over RM500,000	Yes, for service tax and, for manufacturers below the threshold, sales tax
Hong Kong, Brunei	No sales tax, VAT or GST	—

In Singapore and Malaysia you must not charge the tax or issue a tax invoice before your registration takes effect. In Japan a business that is not a registered issuer must not issue anything that could be mistaken for a qualified invoice.

Country by country

Singapore

You must register if your taxable turnover was more than S$1 million at the end of a calendar year, or is expected to be more than S$1 million in the next 12 months. Taxable turnover counts standard-rated and zero-rated supplies, not exempt or out-of-scope ones or sales of capital assets. Under the calendar-year view you apply between 1 and 30 January and are registered from 1 March. Under the forecast view you apply within 30 days of the forecast; for liability arising on or after 1 July 2025, registration takes effect two months from the forecast date. Accepted quotations and confirmed purchase orders count as evidence for a forecast. You must not charge or collect GST before your registration date, and registering late means paying GST on past sales even if you did not collect it. A voluntary registrant stays registered for at least two years and must comply with the GST InvoiceNow requirement.

Australia

You must register when you carry on an enterprise and your GST turnover meets the threshold: A$75,000, or A$150,000 for a non-profit body. A business that supplies taxi travel must register whatever its turnover. Any enterprise may register voluntarily.

New Zealand

You must register if your turnover from a taxable activity was at least NZ$60,000 in the last 12 months, or you expect it to be at least NZ$60,000 in the next 12 months. Below that you can choose to register.

Japan

A business is exempt from consumption tax when its taxable sales in the base period, two years earlier, were ¥10 million or less, unless another test applies, such as sales in the specified period above ¥10 million or registration as a qualified invoice issuer. Only a registered issuer may issue a qualified invoice; its number is “T” followed by 13 digits. A business that leaves exempt status to register may, for tax periods that include a day between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2026, pay tax of 20% of its output tax. A further 30% measure applies to small individual businesses for the 2027 and 2028 tax years.

Malaysia

You must register for service tax when your taxable services in 12 months exceed the threshold for your service: RM500,000 for most services, such as professional services, and RM1,500,000 for food and beverage, construction and private healthcare. Some services, such as credit cards, have no threshold. Manufacturers register for sales tax when their sales of taxable goods exceed RM500,000 in 12 months. A business that is not registered must not issue an invoice that shows an amount as service tax.

Hong Kong and Brunei

Neither has a sales tax, VAT or GST, so there is nothing to register for when you invoice.

In easySales

Record your registration with its start date under System settings → Tax. A document dated inside a registration period may charge tax; one dated outside may not. See Company and tax.
An issued document keeps the registration of its own date, so a later change never alters old invoices.
If your company is not registered on the invoice date, easySales refuses a heading that says “tax invoice”. See GST and tax invoices.
To record deregistration, select End on the registration period.

Examples

In May, Lim & Co signs contracts that will bring in S$1.2 million of taxable sales over the next 12 months, so its turnover for the next 12 months is expected to exceed S$1 million. It applies to IRAS within 30 days of that forecast, keeping the signed contracts as evidence. Until its registration date, Mei Tan keeps issuing invoices without GST. On the registration date, she adds the registration under System settings → Tax, and invoices dated from then on offer the GST rates.

Common questions

What is the GST registration threshold in Singapore? Taxable turnover of more than S$1 million in a calendar year, or expected in the next 12 months.
Can I charge GST before I am registered? No. In Singapore you must not charge or collect GST before your registration date, and in Malaysia an unregistered business must not show service tax on an invoice.
What is the GST threshold in Australia? A$75,000 of GST turnover, or A$150,000 for a non-profit body. Taxi travel requires registration at any turnover.
What is the GST threshold in New Zealand? NZ$60,000 of turnover in 12 months, past or expected.
Do I have to register for a Japanese invoice number? Registering as a qualified invoice issuer is an application of its own. Only a registered issuer may issue a qualified invoice.
Can I register voluntarily? Yes in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Japan. In Singapore you then stay registered for at least two years.
Does Hong Kong have GST? No. Hong Kong has no sales tax, VAT or GST.

Sources

Last checked: 21 October 2026.