Statute Details
- Title: Singapore Tourism (Cess Collection) (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023) Order 2023
- Act Code: STCCA1972-S598-2023
- Legislation Type: Subsidiary Legislation (SL)
- Authorising Act: Singapore Tourism (Cess Collection) Act 1972
- Enacting Authority: Minister for Trade and Industry
- Commencement: 1 September 2023
- Current Version Status: Current version as at 27 Mar 2026 (per the legislation portal)
- Primary Subject: Imposition and computation of tourism cess for a specified tourism event (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023)
- Key Provisions (from extract): Sections 1–9; Schedule (premises categories)
- Key Definitions (from extract): “accommodation”, “hotel” (Hotels Act 1954), “money’s worth”, “operator”, “taxable period”
What Is This Legislation About?
The Singapore Tourism (Cess Collection) (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023) Order 2023 (“the Order”) is a targeted subsidiary legislation made under the Singapore Tourism (Cess Collection) Act 1972. In plain terms, it sets out when and how a special tourism cess is payable by hotel operators in connection with a specific major tourism event: the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023.
Tourism cess is a levy collected from certain transactions involving accommodation provided during a defined “taxable period” connected to the event. This Order does not create a general cess regime from scratch; instead, it applies the Act’s cess-collection framework to a particular event, identifies the taxable transactions, specifies the cess rates, and provides rules for calculating “gross receipts” (including where payment is not purely in cash).
Practically, the Order is designed to capture hotel revenue linked to the event—such as room bookings made for use during the event window—while also addressing edge cases: cancellations/terminations, complimentary arrangements, and situations where consideration includes “money’s worth” (e.g., loyalty points). It also contains specific exclusions, including accommodation provided under certain infectious disease-related orders and arrangements involving public bodies or designated public-purpose facilities.
What Are the Key Provisions?
1. Citation, commencement, and core definitions (Sections 1–4). Section 1 confirms the Order’s name and that it comes into operation on 1 September 2023. Section 2 defines key terms. Of particular importance for practitioners are: (i) “hotel” (by reference to the Hotels Act 1954), (ii) “operator” (the person responsible for day-to-day operations), and (iii) “money’s worth”, which includes points/rewards under loyalty programmes that can be redeemed for accommodation. Section 4 sets the taxable period connected with the event as 14 September 2023 to 17 September 2023 (inclusive).
2. The tourism event and taxable transactions (Sections 3–5). Section 3 identifies the tourism event: the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023. Section 5 then specifies the transactions on which cess is payable. In summary, cess applies to a legally enforceable arrangement where: (a) the arrangement is wholly or partly for accommodation provided or to be provided for use during the taxable period; (b) the accommodation is at premises specified in Part 1 or Part 2 of the Schedule (and is used as a hotel when the accommodation is provided); and (c) one party to the arrangement is the operator of the hotel. Section 5(1)(b) further includes termination of such arrangements as a taxable transaction.
Exclusions (Section 5(2)). Section 5(2) carves out certain arrangements that are not taxable transactions. The extract shows an exclusion for accommodation provided to individuals connected with infectious disease orders (including COVID-19 stay orders or orders under the Infectious Diseases Act 1976), where either the Government/public body is one party, or the premises are designated by a public body for a public-purpose accommodation facility (including, as shown, accommodation for ship crew). This is significant because it prevents cess from being charged in circumstances where accommodation is provided for public health or public-purpose containment/response measures.
3. Who makes the taxable transaction (Section 6). Section 6 states that the tourism event establishment making the taxable transaction connected with the tourism event is the operator of the hotel. This is the key compliance anchor: the operator is the party responsible for the cess obligation arising from the taxable transactions described in Section 5.
4. Cess rates by premises category (Section 7 and the Schedule). Section 7 sets the cess payable. The rate depends on whether the premises are in Part 1 or Part 2 of the Schedule. The extract provides: 30% of gross receipts for premises specified in Part 1, and 20% for premises specified in Part 2, in each case where the premises are used as a hotel. For practitioners, the Schedule classification is therefore critical: it directly affects the effective cess burden and should be checked against the hotel’s address/identification in the Schedule.
5. Gross receipts where consideration is paid wholly in money (Section 8). Section 8 applies when consideration for the taxable transaction is paid wholly in money. It also clarifies a “linked transaction” scenario: where a taxable transaction relating to accommodation (T1) involves consideration that includes money’s worth, and a separate taxable transaction (T2) is a termination/related transaction whose consideration is paid wholly in money, the gross receipts treatment for T2 is still governed by Section 8. This avoids double-counting or misclassification when loyalty points and cash are mixed across related arrangements.
Section 8(3) defines gross receipts for accommodation arrangements (T1) as the total consideration paid plus additional payments such as early check-in/late check-out and payments for additional sleeping facilities in the same accommodation. Section 8(4) defines gross receipts for termination transactions (T2) as charges paid for termination and deposits forfeited due to termination. This is important for hotels that treat cancellations, no-shows, or forfeited deposits as separate revenue lines.
6. Gross receipts in other cases (Section 9). Section 9 addresses situations not covered by Section 8—particularly where consideration is complimentary/gifted, where consideration is paid in money’s worth (or both), or where the taxable transaction is a consequence of another transaction that is not itself a taxable transaction connected with the event. It also addresses cases where consideration is forfeited.
Section 9(2) introduces a formula-based allocation method for calculating the amount treated as gross receipts for premises used as a hotel (H). The extract states the method as TGR ÷ N, where TGR is the total gross receipts for every taxable transaction mentioned in Section 8(1) relating to H, calculated under Section 8(3) and (4), and N is the aggregate number of rooms on each day of the taxable period required to be provided under the relevant taxable transactions, used by guests or not used due to no-shows. This allocation approach is designed to estimate gross receipts for complimentary or loyalty-points-based arrangements by reference to actual gross receipts from cash-based transactions, scaled by room-night availability/usage.
7. No-show and room-night mechanics. The definition of N includes rooms “not used due to the intended guests failing to arrive” (commonly known as a no show). For compliance, hotels should ensure their booking and operational records can support room-night counts for each day in the taxable period, including no-show determinations.
Note on truncated extract. The provided legislation text is truncated after Section 9(3), so the full mechanics for the “TGR is zero” scenario and any further sub-paragraphs cannot be confirmed from the excerpt. However, the key practitioner takeaway remains: Section 9 provides a structured estimation method for gross receipts where consideration is not purely cash, and it relies on room-night counts and reference gross receipts from cash-based transactions.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Order is structured in a straightforward, compliance-oriented format:
- Section 1: Citation and commencement.
- Section 2: Definitions, including “hotel”, “operator”, “money’s worth”, and “taxable period”.
- Section 3: Identifies the tourism event (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023).
- Section 4: Sets the taxable period (14–17 September 2023 inclusive).
- Section 5: Defines taxable transactions (accommodation arrangements and terminations) and provides exclusions (notably infectious disease/public-purpose accommodation scenarios).
- Section 6: Identifies the tourism event establishment making the taxable transaction (the hotel operator).
- Section 7: Sets cess rates by Schedule category (30% vs 20%).
- Sections 8–9: Provide gross receipts calculation rules depending on whether consideration is wholly in money or in other forms (including loyalty points, gifts, and consequences of other transactions).
- The Schedule: Lists premises in Part 1 and Part 2 for rate determination.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The Order applies to hotel operators—meaning the person responsible for the day-to-day operations of a hotel—who enter into legally enforceable arrangements for accommodation at premises specified in the Schedule, where the accommodation is for use during the taxable period connected with the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023.
It also applies to the taxable transactions that include termination of such arrangements. While the Order’s focus is on hotel operators, the practical compliance burden will typically involve hotel management, revenue management teams, and finance departments responsible for invoicing, deposits/forfeitures, loyalty programme redemptions, and cancellation charges. The exclusions in Section 5(2) may be relevant where accommodation is provided under infectious disease orders or public-purpose facilities.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Order is important because it operationalises event-specific tourism cess collection. For hotels, the cess rate and the gross receipts calculation rules can materially affect pricing, accounting treatment of deposits and cancellation charges, and how loyalty points or complimentary arrangements are handled.
From an enforcement and risk perspective, the Order’s detailed definitions and gross receipts rules reduce ambiguity about what constitutes “gross receipts” and how to treat non-cash consideration. For example, Section 8 explicitly includes early check-in/late check-out and additional sleeping facilities in gross receipts, while Section 8(4) treats termination charges and forfeited deposits as gross receipts. Section 9 then provides a method to estimate gross receipts for complimentary or loyalty-points-based arrangements, using a formula tied to cash-based transactions and room-night counts.
For practitioners advising hotel operators, the Schedule classification (Part 1 vs Part 2) is a high-impact variable. A misclassification could lead to charging the wrong cess rate. Additionally, the inclusion of termination transactions means that hotels must ensure their systems can identify when a booking arrangement falls within the taxable transaction definition and when termination triggers cess.
Related Legislation
- Singapore Tourism (Cess Collection) Act 1972 (authorising Act; provides the overarching cess framework)
- Hotels Act 1954 (definition of “hotel”)
- Infectious Diseases Act 1976 (used for infectious disease-related exclusions)
- Infectious Diseases (COVID-19 — Stay Orders) Regulations 2020 (referenced for exclusion scenarios)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Singapore Tourism (Cess Collection) (Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023) Order 2023 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.