IRAS: Perfectly OK to Cheat Sporns!

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=510 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>What Bugs Me
Posted on 09 Oct, 2008 17:48
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=530 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Restaurant not in the wrong for rounding up GST charge, says IRAS


In response to STOMPer GenY's enquiry on October 6, IRAS says that the restaurant is not in the wrong for rounding up the GST charge to the nearest whole cent.

Earlier, GenY had complained that a restaurant had rounded up the total GST charge for a bill from 4 cents to 5 cents.

The STOMPer was unhappy for being charged a higer price than the GST implied.
However, IRAS says that this practice is normal and the rounding up or down of bills is completely up to the restaurant.
IRAS says in an e-mail dated October 9:

"The GST is computed on the price of the goods or service.

"GST-registered businesses are allowed to round off the GST computed to a whole cent.

"Some businesses may round the total amount of the bills, the price of the goods or service plus the GST, to the nearest five cents to facilitate cash payments by their customers.

"Whether a bill should be rounded up or down is a business decision to be made by the businesses, so long as the computation of GST remains correct and unchanged.

"In this case, the restaurant has computed the GST correctly by rounding it to a whole cent.

"We hope this clarifies GenY's query".

Read the original article here:
Restaurant rounds off GST, customers pay more. How can?

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times are bad.

So in essensce, what IRAS is saying is, as long as they are not shortchanged of their 7 percent GST, what businesses do to you is your own problem, not theirs!

"1-cent" is MAS biz.

http://www.mas.gov.sg/currency/curr...requently_Asked_Questions.html#One_cent_coins

Q4
Why doesn't the Government pass a law to require businesses to round off their prices to the nearest 5 cent ?

A4
Pricing is a commercial decision best left to businesses to decide. Some retailers have not been collecting the odd cents from their customers for some time. For example, if the total bill comes up to $30.78, these retailers have been collecting $30.75 from the customer. The retailers include Golden Bamboo Supermarket, McDonalds, NTUC Fairprice, OG Departmental Store, Seven Eleven, Shing Song Supermarket, and Shop & Save Supermarket.

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