Being a typical Chinese woman, my wife has amassed a certain amount of jewelry and gold from around the world since our marriage some 35 years ago.
Getting ready to return to Singapore, she is now worried about customs demanding a "cut" of it in the way of tax or duty.
Searching the web, there seems to be no guide lines about personal jewelry or gold coming into Singapore.
Does anyone know if she can bring her items in without issue. The items being several gold coins, small gold bars, necklaces etc. together with precious jewels, rings, ear rings and necklaces. The bigger gold pieces were "marriage" gold so very sentimental to her (the gold not me)
In total, probably worth about $100,000 Sing.
We have insurance valuations of these items dating back to 1986 as proof of ownership but with Singapore, who knows?
It's possible that gold is a negotiable instrument and should be declared. I doubt that she will have an issue with it but I am not an expert. What I do know is she should carry it in rather than shipping it in. Shipping it in will certainly result in a GST levy. However if she wore some of it and carried the rest in her bag I doubt it would register. India on the other hand.
I not lawyer/teacher/CPA.
You've been arrested? Law Society of Singapore can provide referrals.
You want an International School job? School website or http://www.ISS.edu
Your rugrat needs a School? Avoid for profit schools
You need Tax advice? Ask a CPA
You ran away without doing NS? Shame on you!
This is about my wife bringing back to Singapore her own jewelry and gold. It is a reasonable collection. We are retired and eventually she will live back with her sisters once I am pushing up daisies so we taking back personal effects every time we/she goes.
Singapore is very black and white. if you don't fit into the prescribed departments, no one seems to know what to do.
Like most Singaporeans, she has a concern about asking too many questions or telling anyone what she owns. All of her items were legally obtained over the years and we have insurance papers to prove ownership of more than 30 years. But if Singapore can tax you for a grey area, they will so hence my question as to "does any one know?"
My answer would be for her to wear heaviest necklaces and rings but carry the rest in her drag on wheelie bag.
But if anyone has a clear answer as to personal effects of jewelry and gold?
It's possible that gold is a negotiable instrument and should be declared. I doubt that she will have an issue with it but I am not an expert. What I do know is she should carry it in rather than shipping it in. Shipping it in will certainly result in a GST levy. However if she wore some of it and carried the rest in her bag I doubt it would register. India on the other hand.
I not lawyer/teacher/CPA.
You've been arrested? Law Society of Singapore can provide referrals.
You want an International School job? School website or http://www.ISS.edu
Your rugrat needs a School? Avoid for profit schools
You need Tax advice? Ask a CPA
You ran away without doing NS? Shame on you!
I don't know, but personally I don't think she would be taxed if she declares it. 100k is not a big money, especially in Singapore and moving houses is frequent and always involves this sort of potentially taxable belongings. I've never heard anybody complaining about it and surely people would if they had the slightest reason to do it. People move paintings, sculptures, antiques and such that are probably few times of that value.
Her wearing all these would be fine as long as she doesn't look like a gold dressed Christmas tree, but you mentioned bars and coins. Not sure how she would explain them if they were found.
For the asking questions part, nobody is going to make any effort to verify identities behind such e-mails. She can even call the customs from the UK using somebody else's phone or an unregistered prepaid mobile (if this still can be done in the UK).
This is about my wife bringing back to Singapore her own jewelry and gold. It is a reasonable collection. We are retired and eventually she will live back with her sisters once I am pushing up daisies so we taking back personal effects every time we/she goes.
Singapore is very black and white. if you don't fit into the prescribed departments, no one seems to know what to do.
Like most Singaporeans, she has a concern about asking too many questions or telling anyone what she owns. All of her items were legally obtained over the years and we have insurance papers to prove ownership of more than 30 years. But if Singapore can tax you for a grey area, they will so hence my question as to "does any one know?"
My answer would be for her to wear heaviest necklaces and rings but carry the rest in her drag on wheelie bag.
But if anyone has a clear answer as to personal effects of jewelry and gold?
if you had looked at the links carefully, you would already know what to do. the details are in the FIRST link x9 kindly provided (to you) above.
i have used the forms at least twice. the inspection (hand carried items) were not a hassle if you have the paperwork and answers all prepared.
if you want to carry in the items via the "does any one know?" method, i suggest you be seated where deplaning is quickest, and with priority handling tags attached to your checked bags.
Thanks for the very polite and understanding reply, I take it from your attitude that you are a taxi driver, you have all of the personality attributes required.
Gold and jewelry can be construed to be a form of currency exchange and are not specifically mentioned.
We do not need to sit near an exit as we travel first/business class when visiting Singapore.
My question was a serious one and I thank the FMs who responded accordingly. However, you always get one who wants to be ignorant, hidden behind the anonymity of a forum name. Probably nothing to do and no social life.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
Old Yorkie wrote:Gold and jewelry can be construed to be a form of currency exchange and are not specifically mentioned.
We do not need to sit near an exit as we travel first/business class when visiting Singapore.
My question was a serious one and I thank the FMs who responded accordingly. However, you always get one who wants to be ignorant, hidden behind the anonymity of a forum name. Probably nothing to do and no social life.
believe it or not, my original reply, rude or not, was actually meant to help you.
i told you off because you obviously have not looked, with sufficient care anyway, at the links x9 provided to you, and were quick to dismiss help that required additional effort on your part beyond what you are generally accustomed to.
what you construe to be "a form of currency exchange" is, of course, not a form of currency for the purposes of settling into singapore... or most other developed nations, for that matter.
perhaps your attitude is that of someone too old to understand english and still needing to be spoon-fed? you certainly did not seem to understand what i meant by a quick deplaning.
nonetheless, seeing that you were astute enough to veil your comprehension skills by pointing out you're old enough to travel in a premium cabin, allow me to vaguely point you in the right direction.
(if you wish, and only if you can wrap your mind around the fact that a lowly "taxi driver" might possibly be of help to you)
declare your 100k worth of a "reasonable collection" of gold under "hand carried personal effects" - unless, of course, you understood it to mean the sort a nubile local gal has on drunk sailors when the fleet docks in an asian port.
as you've said, singapore IS black and white and customs would be remiss to not have prepared for your oldiness before your arrival. surely this was an unintentional oversight by a pensioner such as yourself? or did you expect PAP to mandate customs to categorize every item that could possibly be exchanged for cash? (corn? yellow cake? a new born? and, in some regions, toads and baby teeth?)
my anonymity, idleness and lack of a party life are certainly not part of the discussion here. i enjoy all three of them too much to share them with anyone else but myself... and certainly not with a person of your esteem.
what i'm happy to discuss is YOUR anonymity, YOUR laziness and YOUR lack of friends from singapore to direct your questions at... and, of course, your defensiveness, superficiality and self-entitled attitude - common to a reasonable number of singaporeans (wherever they may live).
you realize that a returning citizen using an expat forum to ask questions about how to re-settle back in singapore is a very, very pathetic situation. overseas singaporeans tend to be the most close-knit people i know anywhere in this world. unless, you're the "terok" sort the clique avoids.
but hey, at least you travel "first/business class" when visiting singapore! that's gotta count for something... to you.
p/s: don't forget to safely drag your wife out with you before the coach class passengers hamper her exit - after all, she will be heavily adorned with gold.
Thanks for the very polite and understanding reply, I take it from your attitude that you are a taxi driver, you have all of the personality attributes required.
Thanks for the very polite and understanding reply, I take it from your attitude that you are a taxi driver, you have all of the personality attributes required.
Indeed... and one of those taxi drivers who keeps pressing and releasing the throttle in the hopes of saving petrol... got to watch out for fellows like that.
My question was a serious one and I thank the FMs who responded accordingly. However, you always get one who wants to be ignorant, hidden behind the anonymity of a forum name. Probably nothing to do and no social life.
believe it or not, my original reply, rude or not, was actually meant to help you.
...
Standing ovation for taxico on the epic reply (didn't want to quote the whole thing.
OY, you should probably get to know the players before passing any sort of judgment. Spend some time on the fourm, research your questions from past posts, etc. There are few frequent posters who come across as a-holes (subjective) but, IMHO, taxico isn't one of 'em.
Why would I want to stay on a forum that includes FMs who have nothing better to do than wind others up.
Looking at his postings, it is obvious that taxico knows nothing about Singaporean people or how they think and just uses the forum to amuse himself. I guess that is the level of his mentality.
Ask a sensible question and get stupid answers from an ex pat and his mates who are brain dead.
I have the answer i want so that's it. I have no need to read drivel from the mouths of mentally challenged people.
This expats forum is crap and as such, not worth bothering with so that's it. goodbye and thanks for all the fish etc.
No point in replying as I will not be visiting this forum again
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