Tourists and foreigners living in Singapore contribute to 50% of net GST revenue

Come, let us reason together.

50% of NET GST collected (after tourist refunds) is from tourists and foreigners living here. Another 20% is paid by the top 20% of households. (Data provided in Parliament).

This means 𝟑𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐒𝐓 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 including people earning sufficiently good income.

Someone asked in Parliament if it is worth collecting 50% of the NET GST from tourists and foreigners living here because Singaporeans earning 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 are also affected by inflation.

The question that should be asked is: is it smart to give up more than $3 billion (after hike) you can collect from tourists and foreigners yearly, and lay it all on Singaporeans when you don't have to?

Inflation affects everyone.

If you are earning a sufficiently good income of $10k or $16k, you should be able to bear it with some adjustments and not expect to be totally shielded from it.

The rich are already being taxed more. In fact, the top 20% households, together with tourists and foreigners, account for around $4 billion of NET GST in 2019.

As you can see from data, GST is mainly borne by tourists, foreigners and top income earners.