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GST petition hits 300 supporters

Posted on 26 Jun 2013 | Comments Off

An online petition directed at Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) President Greg Seow to make it mandatory for GST to be paid on agents fees has now attracted 300 signatures.

Launched 10 days ago by Jason Lim of Vestor Realty, the petition was born from growing frustration among an increasing number of Singapore real estate agents who are being forced to absorb GST when their clients simply refuse to pay.

Lim told PropertyGuru: “My plan now is to raise more awareness with realtors who are already aware of the petition and to ask them to spread the word and reach more realtors.”

He added: “Some people doubt if this petition will change anything, but all I can say is if we do nothing, nothing will happen.”

Many agents have left their comments in support of the petition.

Jonathan Yap wrote: “We provide a professional service and we should be remunerated as such”, while JC Lee commented: “I not only meet this issue with landlords – even some developers don’t pay us GST.”

A spokesperson for CEA declined to add to their previous statement to PropertyGuru, in which Yeap Soon Teck, Deputy Director (Licensing) confirmed that the organisation has previously received similar feedback, and is currently reviewing the standard forms to emphasise that if the estate agent is GST-registered then GST should be payable to the estate agent.

Petition: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/council-for-estate-agencies-cea-impose-gst-as-non-negotiable-and-compulsory-payable-by-all-consumers

Source – PropGuru – 25 Jun 2013

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Posted in General, Tax Matters / Property Tax

Tagged CEA, Council for Estate Agencies, Estate agent, Goods and Services Tax, GST, IRAS, Property

CEA: We cannot force GST payments

Posted on 26 Jun 2013 | Comments Off

Singapore’s Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has confirmed that it does not have the power to force consumers to pay GST on commission fees charged by real estate agents.

In an email sent to all Singapore real estate agencies yesterday, Yeap Soon Teck, Deputy Director (Licensing) for CEA, said that his organisation cannot mandate the payment of GST, adding that agents may decide to charge GST or absorb it.

Yesterday’s email came after an online petition attempting to force CEA to make the payment of GST mandatory attracted more than 360 signatures. A Facebook page in support of the petition also gathered close to 200 supporters.

CEA’s advice to real estate agents who face the problem of getting their clients to pay GST is to explain that GST is a consumption tax that is levied on goods and services, and that the agent is required to pay that tax to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

The email added: “If the salesperson has delivered good service, he should be entitled to his full commission payment without having to absorb the GST, and if he is asked to absorb the GST then he will be getting a lesser amount that what he is entitled to.”

Source – PropGuru – 25 jun 2013