GST on Parcels Into Singapore: The S$400 Rule
- Iman Yusoff
- Aug 3
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 10
You have the item in the cart, the card details in, and then the checkout page tells you it does not deliver to your country. Most people give up at that screen. You do not have to.
GST on parcels into Singapore is not decided by the price on the invoice alone. It is decided by how the parcel travels, who sold it to you, and what the declared value adds up to on arrival.
Shipping the other direction? Malaysia runs its own low-value regime — see our guide to the 10% LVG sales tax in Malaysia.
Key Takeaway: The S$400 GST relief is real, but narrower than its reputation. Singapore Customs grants it only for goods imported by post or air, excluding intoxicating liquors and tobacco products, with a CIF value not exceeding S$400. Goods arriving by sea or land sit outside that relief unless otherwise specified, which is exactly the route most Malaysia-to-Singapore parcels take.
What counts as a low-value good in Singapore?
Singapore Customs defines low-value goods as goods with a sales value of S$400 or less that are imported into Singapore by air or post (Singapore Customs). Two conditions sit inside that one sentence, and most shoppers only notice the first.
The value test is the S$400 ceiling. The transport test is air or post. A parcel can pass the first and fail the second, and once it fails the second the low-value goods treatment is off the table entirely.
The S$400 threshold is a sales value, not a total
Sales value means the price of the goods and nothing else. Singapore Customs states it does not include transportation and insurance charges, GST, or customs duty.
So a S$380 handbag with S$45 shipping is still a low-value good on the sales-value test. The freight does not push it over. This is the one part of the rule that works in the shopper's favour, and it is worth knowing precisely.
Where the S$400 relief actually applies
For import relief, the wording tightens again. Singapore Customs grants GST relief only for goods imported by post or air, excluding intoxicating liquors and tobacco products, with a Cost, Insurance and Freight value not exceeding S$400 (Singapore Customs).
Note the switch. The low-value goods definition uses sales value. The import relief uses CIF, which is cost of goods plus insurance plus freight. Same S$400 number, different basket. A S$380 item with S$45 freight has a CIF of S$425 and no longer sits under the relief ceiling, even though it passed the sales-value test.
That is not a technicality. It is the single most common reason a parcel someone believed was exempt arrives with a charge attached.
Why parcels trucked in from Malaysia sit outside the relief
Here is the line almost nobody quotes. Singapore Customs states plainly that GST relief does not apply to goods imported by sea or land, unless otherwise specified.
Read that against how cross-border shopping between Malaysia and Singapore actually works. The cheap, fast, popular route is road: a Johor address, a consolidation warehouse, a van over the Causeway or the Second Link. It is the route that makes small-parcel forwarding affordable in the first place.
It is also the route where the S$400 relief you planned around does not automatically apply. The relief was written for post and air. A parcel that arrives by land is assessed on its own terms, and the unless-otherwise-specified caveat means the treatment depends on the specific arrangement rather than on a blanket exemption you can assume.
We are not telling you to avoid the road route. It is usually still the sensible one. We are telling you to stop budgeting as though S$400 is a tax-free ceiling on it.
Two different taxes, two different moments
GST can attach to your purchase at two separate points, and confusing them is how people end up believing they were charged twice.
At checkout, GST applies when each item costs S$400 or less, the goods are imported by air or post, and the overseas seller or marketplace is GST-registered under Singapore's Overseas Vendor Registration regime, which has applied since January 2023.
At import, GST applies when the overseas seller is not GST-registered and the total CIF value of the shipment exceeds S$400. Different trigger, different collector, different moment.
What happens when your shipment goes over S$400?
The whole value becomes taxable, not just the portion above the line. Singapore Customs illustrates this directly: three parcels totalling S$450 result in GST being payable on the full S$450.
This is the detail that turns a small overshoot into a real number. Going S$50 over the threshold does not mean GST on S$50. It means GST on S$450.
Splitting one order into three parcels does not work
The instinct is obvious: break a S$600 order into two S$300 shipments and slide under the ceiling twice. The Customs example above already answers it. Three parcels were assessed together at S$450, not separately at S$150 each.
Our position on this is blunt. Structuring shipments to sit under a threshold is not a shipping strategy, it is a declaration risk, and the downside is not a tax bill. It is a held shipment, a query you have to answer, and a delay that costs more than the GST would have.
Pay the GST. Declare it correctly. Move on.
Liquor and tobacco never qualify
Intoxicating liquors and tobacco products are excluded from GST relief regardless of value or import method. There is no low-value workaround for a bottle of whisky, and duty applies on top of GST for dutiable goods.
If your basket mixes ordinary goods with either category, expect the shipment to be treated on the stricter footing.
The GST rate you'll actually pay
Singapore's GST rate is 9% for standard-rated supplies made on or after 1 January 2024 (IRAS/gst-rate-change/gst-rate-change-for-business/overview-of-gst-rate-change)). Older blog posts still quoting 7% or 8% predate two separate increases.
On a S$450 assessed value, 9% is S$40.50. Not ruinous, but not the zero most shoppers had pencilled in either.
Checking whether your seller is GST-registered
If the seller is registered under the Overseas Vendor Registration regime, GST should already be charged at checkout on qualifying low-value goods. If it was, and the courier then asks for GST again on the same goods, you have a documentation problem rather than a tax problem. The invoice showing GST already paid is what resolves it.
Keep the checkout invoice. Not a screenshot of the order confirmation, the actual tax invoice. It is the only thing that closes that conversation quickly.
What a forwarder changes about your GST position
A forwarding address does not create a GST exemption, and any service that implies otherwise is selling you a misunderstanding. What a forwarder changes is who prepares the declaration and how consolidated goods are presented on arrival.
Consolidation is genuinely useful: one movement instead of five, one set of handling charges instead of five. But consolidation also means the combined value is what gets assessed, which is precisely the situation the S$450 example describes. The saving is in freight, not in tax.
Anyone promising that a Johor address makes your GST disappear is describing something Singapore Customs has not written down.
The declaration matters more than the relief
After years of clearing cross-border shipments, our honest view is that shoppers optimise the wrong variable. The GST on a small parcel is a known, boring, single-digit-percentage cost. A wrong or vague declaration is an open-ended one.
Goods described as a gift or a sample when they are neither, values that do not match the invoice, missing detail on what is actually inside: these are what turn a two-day movement into a two-week one. The tax you tried to avoid is smaller than the storage you end up paying.
A worked example: same basket, three routes
Take a S$380 order with S$45 freight. Sales value S$380, CIF S$425.
By post or air from a GST-registered overseas seller, the S$380 sales value sits within the low-value goods definition, and GST is charged at the point of sale. By post or air from a seller who is not registered, the S$425 CIF exceeds the relief ceiling, so GST is assessed on import. By land, the relief for post and air does not apply, and the shipment is assessed on its own terms.
One basket. One price. Three different answers, decided by route and seller status rather than by the number on the product page.
Common mistakes we see
Treating S$400 as a tax-free allowance rather than a relief threshold with conditions attached
Comparing the item price against S$400 when the import test uses CIF
Assuming a road shipment from Johor inherits the post-and-air relief
Discarding the checkout tax invoice, then having no proof GST was already paid
Splitting an order across parcels in the belief they are assessed separately
When you need a permit, not just GST
GST is only one gate. Controlled goods need the relevant permit or authorisation regardless of value, and a S$60 item can be held while a S$600 one clears without comment. Value predicts the tax; category predicts the paperwork. Our customs clearance guide for Singapore importers walks through where those gates sit.
If you are working out the full delivered cost rather than just the tax line, our landed cost calculation guide and our breakdown of hidden shipping costs cover the charges that sit around GST.
Where this leaves your next order
Check three things before you check out: the sales value of each item, the CIF once freight is added, and the route the parcel will take. Those three decide your GST position. The price tag on its own decides nothing.
If you are shipping between Malaysia and Singapore regularly and want the declaration handled properly rather than optimistically, that is the part we do. Tell us what you are moving and where it is coming from, and we will tell you how it will be assessed before it ships, not after. Start with our parcel forwarding service, or read how parcel forwarding works end to end before you commit to a route.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to pay GST on parcels sent to Singapore?
Often, yes. GST applies at checkout when each item costs S$400 or less, the goods arrive by air or post, and the overseas seller is GST-registered. It applies at import when the seller is not registered and the shipment's total CIF value exceeds S$400. Singapore's GST rate is 9% for supplies made on or after 1 January 2024.
What is the S$400 GST relief in Singapore?
Singapore Customs grants GST relief only for goods imported by post or air, excluding intoxicating liquors and tobacco products, with a CIF value not exceeding S$400. CIF means cost of goods plus insurance plus freight, so shipping charges count towards that S$400 ceiling even though they are excluded from the separate sales-value test.
Do I pay GST if my parcel comes from Malaysia by road?
The post-and-air relief does not automatically cover it. Singapore Customs states that GST relief does not apply to goods imported by sea or land, unless otherwise specified. Because most Malaysia-to-Singapore parcel forwarding moves by road, you should not assume the S$400 relief applies. Confirm the treatment for your specific shipment before you order.
What happens if my parcel is worth more than S$400?
GST is assessed on the entire value, not only the amount above the threshold. Singapore Customs gives the example of three parcels totalling S$450, where GST is payable on the full S$450. A small overshoot therefore brings the whole shipment into charge rather than just the excess.
Does the S$400 limit include shipping cost?
It depends which test applies. The low-value goods sales value excludes transportation, insurance, GST and customs duty. The import relief threshold uses CIF, which includes freight and insurance. Same number, two different baskets, which is why a S$380 item with S$45 freight can pass one test and fail the other.
Can I split my order to stay under S$400?
No. Singapore Customs assesses the shipment together, and its published example treats three parcels totalling S$450 as a single S$450 assessment. Splitting an order to sit under a threshold creates a declaration risk without removing the tax, and a held shipment usually costs more than the GST would have.
About this guide
Written by us, team Iman Yusoff, from day-to-day cross-border clearance work between Singapore, Malaysia and the wider ASEAN region.
This guide summarises publicly available rules from Singapore Customs and IRAS as at August 2026 and is provided for general information only. It is not tax, legal or customs advice, and thresholds, rates and treatments can change. For a ruling on a specific shipment, check the current Singapore Customs and IRAS guidance or speak to us about your consignment.
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