Quotations, Tax Invoices, Receipts and BEOs for Singapore Banquets

GST basics for venues and caterers

GST is 9% and applies to venue hire, banquet food and beverage, and the service charge itself. Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes S$1 million. Prices shown to the public must include GST, except that hotels and F&B businesses charging a service charge may quote prices subject to GST and service charge.

GST rules that decide how your documents look

GST has been 9% since 1 January 2024. It applies to the room, the food, the drinks, the decor and the audio-visual kit, and IRAS is explicit that GST is charged on the service charge as well as on the service. A table priced at S$1,488 plus 10% service charge plus GST comes to S$1,784.11.

Registration becomes compulsory once taxable turnover passes S$1 million, assessed either on the past calendar year or on what you reasonably expect over the next 12 months. Smaller caterers and home-based businesses below the line do not charge GST and must not show it.

Price display is where Singapore differs from most countries. GST-registered businesses must quote GST-inclusive prices to the public, with a fine of up to S$5,000 for getting it wrong. Hotels and F&B businesses that impose a service charge are the exception: they may show prices subject to GST and service charge, provided they say so prominently. That is the legal basis for the familiar ++ on banquet menus.

Four templates, one booking

The quotation template at /sg/quotation-template prices per table or per guest and handles both ++ quotes and GST-inclusive quotes, so a caterer without a service charge uses the same file correctly.

The tax invoice template at /sg/tax-invoice-template follows the IRAS list of particulars for GST-registered customers, with a simplified layout for totals up to S$1,000.

The receipt template at /sg/receipt-template covers the IRAS receipt rules for customers who are not GST registered, which includes most couples.

The banquet event order template at /sg/banquet-event-order-template is the working sheet for the kitchen, service captains and AV team on the night.

Use them in that order. The quotation fixes the price and the inclusions, the BEO turns them into instructions, and the tax invoice or receipt records what was actually served and paid. When the three disagree, the BEO is usually the one that was not updated after the final headcount, which is why it carries a revision number.

InvoiceNow is coming for everyone

Since 1 April 2026 every new voluntary GST registrant has had to send invoice data to IRAS through the InvoiceNow network. At the Committee of Supply 2026, the government extended this to all GST-registered businesses in phases: new compulsory registrants and existing businesses with annual supplies up to S$200,000 from 1 April 2028, up to S$1 million from 1 April 2029, up to S$4 million from 1 April 2030, and everyone else from 1 April 2031. Most banquet caterers will fall into the 2029 to 2031 groups.

IRAS has also announced transitional funding to offset onboarding costs, up to S$1,000 for smaller businesses, and free InvoiceNow-Ready Solutions for SMEs until March 2031. None of this changes what an invoice must contain today. It changes how the data reaches IRAS, so the best preparation is invoices that are already complete and consistent.

Where Venura fits

Venura is management software for venues, banquet halls and caterers. It handles enquiries, a booking calendar that checks for double bookings, quotations, invoices and receipts, deposits and balances, and event sheets for the kitchen and floor. Singapore businesses can subscribe and pay in Singapore dollars, and you set GST at 9% and your service charge per line. Venura is not an InvoiceNow access point, so you would still transmit through an accredited provider. Pricing for Singapore is quoted individually.

Questions from Singapore