GST and service charge for Singapore restaurants: how the "++" price display rules really work

Every diner in Singapore knows the small print: "prices subject to service charge and GST". The famous "++" is so common that many F&B owners treat it as automatic. It is not. The right to display GST-exclusive prices is a specific concession from IRAS, it comes with conditions, and getting price display wrong is an offence that carries a fine of up to S$5,000 per breach.

This guide walks through the rules as IRAS states them: who must display GST-inclusive prices, when a restaurant may use "++", how to compute service charge and GST in the right order, and what the 10% service charge actually is in law (spoiler: less than most people think). It is written for F&B owners, not tax professionals, so where a situation gets specific, confirm it with IRAS or your accountant.

If you are still setting up, our step-by-step guide to opening a restaurant in Singapore covers licensing and registration in order; and if you want your online booking flow to state deposits and menu prices as cleanly as your menu does, a free online reservation system lets you show guests the exact terms before they confirm.

What "++" actually means

On a Singapore menu, "S$28++" means S$28 plus a 10% service charge plus 9% GST. Neither the service charge nor the GST is included in the printed figure, so the amount on the bill is roughly 20% higher than the amount on the menu.

The two components are very different animals:

• GST is a tax, currently 9%, in force since 1 January 2024 (it was 8% during 2023 and 7% before that). If your business is GST-registered, you collect it for IRAS.
• The service charge, typically 10%, is not a tax and is not required by any law. It is a business decision: revenue you choose to add to the bill. No statute obliges you to impose it, no statute caps it at 10%, and, perhaps surprisingly, no law requires it to be passed on to staff. It is simply part of your price, and like the rest of your price it is subject to GST.

That last point drives the whole billing order, so let us make it concrete.

The right way to compute a bill: service charge first, then GST

GST is charged on the total consideration for the meal, and IRAS is explicit that the service charge forms part of that total. So the correct order is: add the 10% service charge to the food and drink subtotal, then apply 9% GST to the service-inclusive amount.

A worked example for a menu price of S$28++:

A quick sanity check for any "++" price: multiply by 1.199 (1.10 × 1.09). S$100 of food becomes S$119.90 on the bill, and the GST line is S$9.90, not S$9.00. If your POS applies 9% to the pre-service-charge subtotal, you are under-collecting GST on every single cover, and the shortfall is yours to make good when IRAS looks at your returns.

If you impose no service charge, the maths is simply menu price × 1.09, but then a different rule kicks in: you lose the right to display "++" prices at all.

Who may display GST-exclusive prices, and who must not

The default rule is strict: GST-registered businesses must show GST-inclusive prices on all price displays the public can see: menus, boards, brochures, websites, advertisements. Quoting a GST-exclusive price and surprising the customer at payment is exactly what the rule exists to prevent, and failing to comply can be fined up to S$5,000 per offence.

There is exactly one carve-out that matters to F&B: hotels and F&B establishments that impose a service charge on their goods and services may display GST-exclusive prices to ease their operations. Three conditions deserve your attention:

1. The service charge must be genuine. IRAS states it will not grant the exception to an establishment that levies a nominal service charge with no real business purpose other than dodging GST-inclusive display. A token 0.5% "service charge" added to keep the "++" on the menu does not qualify; you would still be required to show GST-inclusive prices.
2. A prominent statement is mandatory. The menu, board or price list must carry a visible statement that prices are subject to GST and service charge. Bury it in 6-point grey type at your peril: "prominent" is the word IRAS uses.
3. You do not need two price lists. As an administrative concession, you are not required to print both a GST-inclusive and a GST-exclusive version, as long as the prominent statement is there.

One frequent real-world case: you serve the same dishes for dine-in (with service charge) and takeaway (without). IRAS allows an establishment in that position to keep displaying GST-exclusive prices, which spares you a second printed menu. GST itself does not care about the format: dine-in, takeaway and delivery of standard-rated food are all taxed at the same 9% in Singapore, there is no reduced rate for one channel or the other.

And if your restaurant charges no service charge at all? Then the exception simply does not apply to you: your displayed prices must include GST. "S$28 nett" is the honest Singapore way of saying it, and plenty of hawker-adjacent concepts and casual cafes trade very well on nett pricing as a selling point.

The service charge, demystified

Because the service charge sits on every bill next to a genuine tax, it has accumulated a thick layer of myth. The legal reality, in three points:

• It is not mandatory. No Singapore law requires an F&B establishment to impose a service charge. It is customary, widespread, and entirely your call. Some operators have dropped it and advertise "no service charge" as a differentiator; others rely on it as a structural part of revenue in a market where margins are thin.
• It does not legally belong to the staff. Unlike the tronc systems and tipping rules you may read about in other countries, Singapore has no statute directing where service charge money goes. Many operators do share it with the team, and it can be a genuine retention tool in a tight labour market, but that is policy, not law. Be straight with your staff about how yours works.
• Tipping is not the alternative. Singapore has no tipping culture, and diners will not top up a bill that already carries 10%. Whatever you decide about the service charge, decide it knowing there is no second stream of gratuities behind it.

From the diner's side, whether the charge must be paid comes down to disclosure: it was on the menu, the statement was prominent, the diner ordered, that is a contract. Which is one more reason to take the "prominent statement" condition seriously.

Pricing with the full stack in mind

The practical consequence of "++" is that your menu price and your customer's perceived price differ by about 20%. When you price a menu, work backwards from what the guest psychologically pays: a S$32++ main is a S$38.37 main in the guest's memory and on their card statement. Cross a round-number threshold after service charge and GST, and you may get the resistance of the higher price without ever printing it.

The same logic applies online. Your website, your Google Business Profile menu link and your booking flow are all "price displays to the public" in IRAS's sense, so they follow the same rules as the printed menu: either GST-inclusive figures, or GST-exclusive figures with the prominent statement, and only if you genuinely impose a service charge. Check what your delivery platform listings show while you are at it; the platform's display is built from the prices you enter.

Deposits, prepaid menus and GST

More Singapore restaurants now take deposits or sell prepaid set menus for peak dates, reunion dinners being the obvious example, and card-secured bookings are standard defence against no-shows (we cover the policy side in our guide to no-show deposits in Singapore).

The GST angle: when a deposit is part payment for the meal, GST is due on it when you receive it, at the rate in force at that time. IRAS's own transitional examples during the 2024 rate change worked exactly this way: a banquet deposit received before 1 January 2024 carried 8% GST, the balance paid afterwards carried 9%. A purely refundable security amount that is returned to the guest, by contrast, is not consideration for a supply while it remains refundable. Forfeited deposits and cancellation fees have their own treatment, and this is genuinely one for your accountant: the boundary between "payment for a supply" and "compensation" is exactly the kind of line IRAS draws case by case.

If you take prepayments through your reservation system, make sure the confirmation states the amount, what it covers and whether it is GST-inclusive. With ViteUneTable, deposits and menu terms appear on the booking confirmation the guest keeps, which shortens most disputes before they start. (Our own paid packs are billed from Europe at €29 excl. VAT per month for the Pack Standard, "excl. VAT" being the EU equivalent wording of "before GST"; the free version is free everywhere, no asterisk.)

When does a growing F&B business have to register for GST?

Not every cafe is GST-registered, and the "++" question only exists once you are. The threshold is taxable turnover above S$1 million, tested two ways:

• Retrospective: your taxable turnover for the calendar year just ended exceeded S$1 million. You apply by 30 January and are registered from 1 March.
• Prospective: you can reasonably expect to cross S$1 million in the next 12 months (a new outlet opening, a large catering contract). You apply within 30 days of forming that expectation.

Two operational realities follow. First, crossing the threshold means your prices effectively rise 9% overnight unless you absorb some of it, so model the transition before it happens, not after. Second, voluntary registration below the threshold is possible (with a two-year commitment) and can make sense if your input GST on rent, fit-out and supplies is substantial. Run the numbers with your accountant.

A compliance checklist you can walk the floor with

• Menu, boards, website, ads: either GST-inclusive prices, or "++" with a prominent "prices subject to GST and service charge" statement.
• The "++" concession only applies if your service charge is genuine, not a token line item.
• POS configured to add 10% service charge first, then 9% GST on the service-inclusive subtotal (check one bill by hand: total ÷ menu subtotal should be 1.199).
• Receipts showing GST as a separate line with your GST registration number.
• Staff briefed on what the service charge is and how your establishment uses it.
• Deposits and prepaid menus: GST accounted for when part payments are received; wording on confirmations checked.
• Verbal quotes and phone bookings: quote the same way you display.

None of this is glamorous, but it is cheap to get right and expensive to get wrong: S$5,000 per display offence, under-collected GST made good from your own margin, and the reputational cost of a diner feeling ambushed by the bill.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 10% service charge required by law in Singapore?

No. No law requires a restaurant to impose a service charge, and no law fixes it at 10%. It is a customary business practice. Once disclosed on the menu, it becomes part of the contract price and the diner has to pay it, but imposing it in the first place is entirely the restaurant's decision.

Does the service charge have to go to the staff?

There is no legal requirement in Singapore for the service charge to be distributed to employees. Many establishments share it with the team as part of pay policy, but that is a choice, not an obligation. Whatever your policy, communicate it clearly internally.

Can my restaurant show "++" prices if we do not charge a service charge?

No. The IRAS concession to display GST-exclusive prices applies only to hotels and F&B establishments that genuinely impose a service charge. Without one, your displayed prices must include GST, and a nominal service charge added only to keep the "++" does not qualify.

How is GST calculated when there is a service charge?

Service charge first, GST second. Add 10% to the food and drink subtotal, then charge 9% GST on that service-inclusive amount. For S$100 of food, the bill is S$119.90, of which S$9.90 is GST.

Is takeaway food taxed differently from dine-in in Singapore?

No. Standard-rated food is subject to 9% GST whether it is eaten in, taken away or delivered. The difference is commercial, not fiscal: most establishments impose the service charge on dine-in only, and IRAS still allows GST-exclusive display in that mixed situation.

What is the fine for wrong price display?

Failing to display GST-inclusive prices when required (or omitting the prominent statement when using the "++" concession) is an offence with a fine of up to S$5,000. Each non-compliant display can be treated as a separate breach.