Overlanded and Shortlanded goods

Overlanded goods refer to goods which are in excess of the quantity stated in the inward manifest, whether imported by air, sea or rail. You are required to pay the duty and/or Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the excess quantity.

Shortlanded goods refer to goods that fall short of the quantity stated in the inward manifest, whether imported by air, sea or rail. You may apply for a refund if duty and/or GST has been paid. Please refer here for more information on refund application.

Un-manifested goods refer to actual goods that are shipped but not listed in the inward manifest.

The master, owner or agent of the vessel or aircraft or the station-master must account for un-manifested, shortlanded or overlanded goods to Singapore Customs. See here for more information on the accounting procedures.

Permit Requirements

For overlanded goods, you must declare a Customs short payment permit to account for the duty and/or GST short-paid. This applies for the direct import of dutiable goods, non-dutiable goods, or both.

This permit should also be declared for excess quantity of goods imported by land.

You should apply for the correct short payment permit for overlanded or excess goods:

• In-Payment (GST including duty exemption) permit if only GST is short-paid
• In-Payment (Duty) permit if only duty is short-paid
• In-Payment (Duty and GST) permit if both duty and GST are short-paid

The previous permit number should be declared in the “Previous Permit No.” field and “SPNOSTK” (“Short Payment Not Involving Updates To Stock”) in the “Place of Receipt Code” field.

Do note the Customs short payment permit is for the purpose of duty and/or GST recovery only and cannot be used for cargo clearance.

If the transacted amount on the invoice is in a foreign currency, please use these options below to derive the amount short-paid in Singapore dollars:

• The Customs exchange rate on the date the initial In-Payment permit was approved; or
• The selling rate quoted by a commercial bank on the date the initial In-Payment permit was approved for a foreign currency not listed in the Customs exchange rate

For the second option, you are required to declare the name of the bank, bank’s telephone number and the date which the rate was quoted in the “Trader’s Remarks” field of the short payment permit application.

If the invoice states the transacted amount in both foreign currency and its conversion into Singapore dollars, please use the pre-determined exchange rate to derive the amount short-paid in terms of Singapore dollars.