Overseas Singaporean students returning to Singapore to pay GST for tuition fees

MANY parents are sending their children overseas for studies. But be aware of such arrangements could be subject to Goods and Service Tax (GST) once your children get home.

Singapore customs has issued an advisory to remind overseas Singaporean students that GST exemption is only up to a certain value. If you stay out of Singapore for more than 8 hours, you will be exempt from GST for your total tuition fees for the financial year up to $2,000.

Overseas students have to pay GST only on the value of the goods that exceeds the GST relief. For example, if your tuition fees is $12,000 for the financial year, you will need to pay GST for $10,000 worth of services expenditure. At 7 per cent, that comes up to $700.

Please be reminded that you will have to produce invoices or receipts of your tuition fees to help calculate tax payable. You can pay taxes at the Singapore Customs' Tax Payment Office or at the self-service Tax Payment Kiosk at the check points. Offenders caught not complying could be charged and faces a fine up to $5,000, sentence up to 3 years in prison or both.

Rosy outlook for fresh grads: Starting pay up to $10,000 a month

Singapore, May 15 - The outlook for graduates in Singapore could never be stronger, says the Edukesyen Ministry. Of a graduating cohort of about 20,000 from unsubstantiated figures, the ever-reliable news can report that at least one graduate managed to get a starting salary of $10,000 working in an investment bank where his father happened to be the president.

The roaring success of the cohort means the Edukesyen Ministry is doing well to create opportunities for graduates, says graduate Ba Ba Black Sheep. "Because of these statistics, even though I have been unable to find a job for 6 months since graduation, I am extremely encouraged that there is a bouyant job market."

This obviously means that if you aren't one of them, it is your own fault and every one who graduates should expect to be blindingly successful so your parents have topics to talk about every Chinese New Year.

However, the popular HardwareZone forum still reports a spike in posts every Chinese New Year, believed to be by people hiding in their rooms from their nosy relatives trying to ask about how well they are doing compared to their kids.

Toto's problem? Not enough tickets are bought.

Singapore, 15 May - Following a Minister's eloquent and comprehensively researched and well thought out recommendation that football's problem in Singapore, was that not enough kids were playing it, gamblers around Singapore are picking up the analogy and wisdom imparted by the Minister. 

Ai Pua Kiao, 53, said, "The problem with why I didn't strike Toto despite buying for the last 30 years, is because not enough tickets were bought. I believe if I widen the ticket pipeline and buy more numbers, there is a higher chance of producing quality results during the draw." 

Minister for Wealth, Cai Shen Ye, agrees, and repeated what Ai Pua Kiao just said by paraphrasing. "I believe if you widen the ticket pipeline and buy more numbers, there is a higher chance of producing quality results."

A task force, led by Mr. Yan Fei, will study the problem and be based at the offices of an undisclosed Clementi hawker centre. It is expected this task force will consist of industry experts, including Mr. Jia Taxi, Ms. Huang Lian Po, and will table its recommendations on the development of a strategy on the numbers to pick.