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Excel workbook (.xlsx) with formulas that total themselves. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
Download the Singapore expense report (Excel)Singapore’s expense report is mostly straightforward, a single 9% GST rate, but it carries one trap the others do not: blocked input tax. Some categories cannot have their GST reclaimed even with a perfect tax invoice. This template is built for that, with a 9% GST column, a net and gross split, worked examples, and a note flagging the blocked categories, so the summary reconciles cleanly into the GST F5 return.
The download has a header block for the employee, period, and approver, a line per cost with the date, description, category, merchant, net, GST, and gross, and a totals row.
The 9% rate
Singapore GST is 9%, having moved from 8% on 1 January 2024 as the second step of a two-stage increase. The rate is flat across most goods and services, so the template uses a single 9% column. A small set of supplies are exempt, mainly financial services and the sale and lease of residential property, and those carry no GST. For an ordinary business expense report, the 9% column covers most lines.
Blocked input tax is the trap
The rule that separates Singapore from the others is blocked input tax. Under GST Regulations 26 and 27, input tax on certain expenses cannot be claimed at all, regardless of whether you hold a valid tax invoice. The blocked categories include private motor car expenses, club subscriptions, medical and accident insurance for employees (with limited exceptions), and benefits provided to family members. A cost in one of those categories goes on the report with the gross recorded but no GST claimed, because the claim would be disallowed.
This is why the category column matters more in Singapore: it is what flags a line as blocked before the GST gets claimed in error.
Tax invoices and the documentation threshold
To claim input tax you need a valid tax invoice for purchases over SGD 1,000, or a simplified tax invoice for smaller amounts, showing the supplier’s GST registration number and the GST charged. The template’s gross column records what was paid, and the GST column should only carry a claim where the tax invoice supports it and the category is not blocked.
How to use the template
- Fill in the employee, period, and approver in the header.
- Record each cost with its net, the 9% GST, and the gross.
- Enter 0.00 in the GST column for exempt supplies and for any blocked-input-tax category.
- Keep a valid tax invoice for every claimed line over SGD 1,000, and retain records for five years.
- Total the report, submit for approval, and pass it to the bookkeeper to post and feed into the GST F5.
Common mistakes
- Claiming GST on a blocked category. Private car expenses and club subscriptions cannot be reclaimed even with a tax invoice.
- Still using the 8% rate. GST has been 9% since 1 January 2024.
- Recording only the gross. Without the split, the GST has to be re-derived for the F5.
- Claiming input tax on exempt financial services. These carry no GST.
When the report should fill itself
A spreadsheet works, but checking each line for the rate and the blocked categories is automatable. Tools that help:
- Spenmo pairs company cards with capture for Singapore teams.
- ExpenseFlow reads each receipt, applies the 9% GST, flags the Reg 26/27 blocked-input-tax categories so the claim is not made in error, codes the net, and posts it into Xero or QuickBooks Online with the image attached.
- Hubdoc pulls recurring supplier tax invoices in with the GST itemised.
Use the template to start, watch the blocked categories, and move to automatic capture as volume grows.