Is GST Charged on Reinstatement Quotes in Singapore?

Two contractors quote your handover. One says S$5,800. The other says S$5,600 plus GST, which is S$6,104. The cheaper-looking number is the dearer one, and that is before anyone has compared what is actually in the scope. Here is how GST really works on reinstatement and make-good works in Singapore, how to verify in about thirty seconds that a contractor is entitled to charge it, and who gets it back.

Is GST charged on reinstatement works in Singapore?

The rate has been 9% since 1 January 2024, and IRAS confirms that standard-rated supplies of goods and services made in Singapore carry that rate. Nothing about reinstatement is special: there is no exemption for tenancy make-good, no reduced rate for residential work, and no relief because the work restores rather than improves. That last point catches people out, because income tax treats restoration and improvement very differently. GST does not.

So the whole question collapses into one thing: is this particular contractor registered?

Which reinstatement contractors have to charge GST?

A business registering on the prospective basis and forecasting on or after 1 July 2025 gets a two-month grace period before it has to start charging GST, so a newly-registered contractor may legitimately have quoted you without GST a few weeks ago and with it today.

Below S$1 million, registration is optional. Plenty of small renovation and reinstatement outfits register voluntarily, usually because they buy a lot of materials and want the input tax back. The practical consequence for you is that turnover is not a reliable signal. A two-van operation may charge GST and a larger firm may not. Do not guess from the size of the company, the smartness of the quote, or whether the invoice has a number that looks official on it.

How do I check if a contractor is really GST-registered?

This matters more than it sounds. Charging GST while not registered is an offence, and IRAS sets the penalty at three times the tax wrongly collected plus a fine of up to S$10,000. Businesses that have applied but are not yet approved are still not allowed to charge it. If a quote shows GST and the search comes back empty, you are looking at either a typing error in the UEN or a problem, and it is worth resolving before you pay.

Ask for the UEN in writing. A contractor who will not put a UEN on a quotation is telling you something useful about how the rest of the job will be documented, which is the same instinct that separates a reliable reinstatement contractor from a cheap one.

Must a reinstatement quotation show the GST-inclusive price?

The only carve-out is for hotels and F&B establishments that levy a service charge. It does not extend to renovation or reinstatement contractors. So a homeowner-facing quote reading "S$5,600 (excl. GST)" in large type with the real figure buried in a footnote is not merely annoying, it is the wrong way round.

One more invoicing detail worth knowing: where the total payable including GST does not exceed S$1,000, a contractor may issue a simplified tax invoice with fewer particulars. Above that, ask for a full tax invoice showing the GST registration number and the tax charged, because that is the document any claim later depends on.

What does 9% actually add to a reinstatement bill?

Against the price ranges we publish elsewhere on this site, here is the difference in cash between a non-registered and a registered contractor at the same headline price.

Base figures are the indicative 2026 ranges used in our condo reinstatement cost guide and office reinstatement guide. GST applies only where the contractor is GST-registered.

On a typical condo handover the tax is roughly S$540, which is the same order as a full room repaint. It is large enough that comparing quotations on a GST-inclusive basis is the only comparison that means anything, and it belongs on the list of costs that surprise people at handover.

Can the GST be claimed back?

Two consequences follow. For a residential landlord, the GST-inclusive invoice total is simply the cost, and it is that gross figure that goes into the rental expense computation. For a commercial tenant, the effective cost of an office reinstatement is the pre-GST figure, which is why commercial and residential budgets for apparently similar work are not comparable.

There is a wrinkle specific to furnished residential lettings. IRAS treats the rental of the bare unit as exempt, but the rental of furniture and fittings as a taxable supply. If your tenancy separates the two, the GST treatment of what you are being charged for damaged furniture may not match the treatment of the unit itself. That is a question for your tax adviser rather than your contractor.

Does a landlord add GST when deducting reinstatement from the deposit?

Commercial leases are different: a GST-registered landlord recharging make-good works to a departing tenant is generally making a taxable supply and will invoice accordingly. Either way, the tenant is entitled to see the underlying invoice. A deduction supported only by a round number and no documents is the shape most deposit disputes start in.

What to check before you accept a reinstatement quote

1. Get the UEN in writing, then run it through the IRAS GST Registered Business Search and check the effective date.
2. Ask for one GST-inclusive total. If the quote leads with an "excluding GST" figure, ask for it restated. You are entitled to the final payable number.
3. Compare like with like. Put every quote onto a GST-inclusive basis before deciding, or the registered contractor will look 9% worse than it is.
4. Ask for a full tax invoice on completion where the total exceeds S$1,000, showing the GST registration number and the tax charged.
5. Keep the invoice for the deposit conversation and, if you are a landlord, for your rental expense claim.