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CSV: every Singapore QuickBooks GST code, its rate, whether it is sales or purchases, and when to use it.
Download the GST code list (CSV)QuickBooks Online Singapore ships with its own set of GST codes, abbreviated the way IRAS abbreviates them on the GST F5, and picking the right one is where bookkeeping goes wrong, because the correct code follows the supply and its direction. This reference lists every Singapore GST code as QuickBooks names it, with its rate, whether it is a sales or purchase code, and when to use it.
The download is a single sheet: the QuickBooks GST code, its rate, whether it applies to sales or purchases, and what to use it for.
Sales and purchases are separate codes
The first thing to know, especially moving from the UK, is that QuickBooks Singapore does not use one code for both directions. There are separate sales and purchase codes, and each carries its own direction:
- Sales: SR (9%) standard-rated, ZR (0%) zero-rated, ES33 (0%) Regulation 33 exempt, ESN33 (0%) non-Reg 33 exempt, DS (9%) deemed supplies, OS (0%) out of scope.
- Purchases: TX (9%) standard-rated, ZP (0%) zero-rated, EP (0%) exempt, OP (0%) out of scope, IM (9%) imports, TX-RE (9%) reverse charge, BL (9%) blocked, NR (0%) non-registered supplier, TXCA (9%) customer accounting.
So you use SR on an invoice and TX on a bill, not a single shared code.
The ones that catch people out
- TX is not BL. Both are 9% purchases, but TX is claimable and BL is blocked. Code a private car, club subscription, staff medical, or family benefit as BL, not TX, because Regulations 26 and 27 disallow the input tax.
- EP is not OP. EP is an exempt purchase (tied to financial or residential supplies); OP is out of scope (overseas services performed abroad). They behave differently on the return.
- IM is not TX-RE. IM is import GST on goods paid to Customs; TX-RE is the reverse charge on imported services. Goods and services, different mechanisms.
- NR exists for a reason. A purchase from a supplier not registered for GST carries no input tax, and NR records that cleanly rather than forcing a 0% standard code.
Entertainment is claimable
A code-level point that surprises newcomers: there is no blocked entertainment code to reach for, because Singapore allows input tax on entertainment food and drink. Client and staff meals use TX (9%). Only benefits for the family of staff fall to BL (9%). This is the opposite of the UK and Australia.
The code is a default that prefills the line
QuickBooks lets you set a default GST code on each chart-of-accounts account, and that default prefills the transaction line. You override the code on any line when a transaction needs a different treatment, which is why a good chart pairs a default with the alternatives. Note that the chart-of-accounts import does not carry GST codes, so you set them after importing the structure.
What changed in 2024
From 1 January 2024 the GST rate is 9%, so the 9% codes apply to transactions from that date. The 8% codes remain for earlier-dated entries, so a transaction dated in 2023 keeps its 8% code. Match the code to the transaction date as well as the supply.
How to use the reference
- Identify the nature of the supply and its direction (sale or purchase).
- Match it to the QuickBooks code, remembering sales and purchases use different codes.
- For imports use IM (9%); for imported services use TX-RE (9%); for blocked costs use BL (9%).
- Pair this with the Singapore chart of accounts for QuickBooks, whose CSV maps each account to its default code.
Getting codes right on every transaction by hand is the work software removes. ExpenseFlow reads each receipt and bill, applies the correct Singapore GST code for the supply including the blocked and reverse-charge cases, and posts it into QuickBooks Online with the source attached, so the code is right at capture. Dext and Financio also extract GST from documents as they arrive.
On Xero? See the Singapore GST rates in Xero reference.