How to Claim Tools in Singapore (2026 Guide)

Quick answer

Tools are plant and machinery in Singapore, relieved through capital allowances rather than a direct deduction. Tools costing no more than S$5,000 can be written off in one year as low-value assets, within a S$30,000 cap per Year of Assessment; anything else uses the three-year write-off or the working-life schedule. Repairs and consumables are deductible as incurred. Employees cannot deduct the cost of tools. GST is claimable as input tax by registered businesses.

Are tools tax deductible in Singapore?

Not as a deduction, but as a capital allowance, which reaches the same place. Tools used in a trade are plant and machinery, so the cost is relieved under sections 19 and 19A of the Income Tax Act rather than under section 14. IRAS offers three routes.

The quickest is the low-value asset write-off: an asset costing no more than S$5,000 can be written off in full in one Year of Assessment, and a business can make such claims up to a total of S$30,000 per Year of Assessment. A trade business buying a steady stream of hand and power tools clears most of them this way. Once the S$30,000 cap is reached in a year, further low-value items fall back to the other routes.

The second route is the three-year write-off under section 19A, available for any plant or machinery: one third of the cost in each of three consecutive Years of Assessment. The third route is the working-life schedule under section 19, with an initial allowance of 20% and annual allowances over the prescribed life of 6, 12, or 16 years, which is rarely chosen for tools because the three-year election is faster.

Running costs are deducted directly. Repairs, maintenance, and consumables such as blades, drill bits, and abrasives are revenue expenses under section 14, as is insurance on the tool kit. Replacing a tool outright is a new asset.

Employees have almost no room. Employment expenses are deductible only where they are wholly and exclusively incurred in performing the duties, not reimbursed by the employer, and not capital or private in nature. The purchase of tools is capital, so an employed technician who buys his own kit has no deduction; the employer supplying or reimbursing the tools is the workable arrangement. The Singapore construction guide covers the trade context.

How much can you claim?

Worked example: a Singapore air-conditioning servicing company buys a S$3,800 refrigerant recovery unit, a S$1,200 vacuum pump, a S$6,500 pipe bending machine, and S$900 of consumables in its 2026 financial year. The recovery unit and the pump are each under S$5,000, so S$5,000 of low-value asset write-off is claimed in Year of Assessment 2027, well within the S$30,000 cap. The bending machine exceeds S$5,000 and goes on the three-year write-off at S$2,167 a year. The consumables are deducted in full as a revenue expense. First-year relief totals S$8,067, worth S$1,371 at 17% before partial exemption, and 9% input tax is claimed on every item.

Tools carried in a commercial vehicle do not change the vehicle’s treatment, but a fitted rack or module is its own asset. Note that S-plate cars carry no capital allowances at all, however many tools they carry.

GST on tools

A GST-registered business claims the 9% input tax on tools used for making taxable supplies. A simplified tax invoice is enough below S$1,000; at S$1,000 or more a full tax invoice with the buyer’s name and the supplier’s GST number is required. Second-hand tools from a seller who is not GST-registered carry no GST and give no credit. Tools imported from overseas attract import GST at the border, claimable on the same basis. The Singapore GST guide covers invoice requirements.

Record-keeping requirements

Keep the invoice for every tool and a fixed asset schedule recording the cost, purchase date, the allowance route chosen, and the running total of low-value claims against the S$30,000 cap for each Year of Assessment. Records must be kept for five years from the relevant Year of Assessment. The Singapore record-keeping guide covers IRAS-accepted electronic records.

How to claim, step by step

1. Separate consumables and repairs from tools that are plant and machinery.
2. Deduct consumables and repairs in the tax computation under section 14.
3. Allocate tools costing S$5,000 or less to the low-value write-off until the S$30,000 cap is reached.
4. Put remaining tools on the three-year write-off, or the working-life schedule if preferred.
5. Claim input tax on the GST return with the correct form of tax invoice for the amount.
6. Keep the schedule and the running cap total for five years.

Common mistakes

• Claiming the low-value write-off beyond S$30,000 in a single Year of Assessment.
• Deducting a tool purchase as a repair.
• Employees claiming tools as employment expenses.
• Claiming input tax on an invoice of S$1,000 or more that lacks the full tax invoice details.
• Forgetting that sole proprietors must exclude the private-use share.

Software that helps

• Dext captures hardware-store receipts by photo so site purchases are not lost.
• ExpenseFlow reads tool and merchant invoices with frontier vision AI, codes each line to an expense or fixed asset account using the S$5,000 low-value asset limit, explains the call under the line, lowers its confidence so a reviewer decides when the invoice does not settle it, flags invoices of S$1,000 or more that lack full tax invoice details, and syncs approved items to Xero or QuickBooks with the receipt attached.
• Xero carries a fixed asset register that tracks the low-value cap by Year of Assessment.

FAQ

See the answered questions above for the one-year write-off, the three-year election, repairs, employees, and GST.