Adding Tax to Expenses and Payables

Track GST and other taxes on your business expenses in Officaid for accurate record keeping and input tax claims.

Track Taxes for Accurate Claims

If your business is registered for tax, tracking GST on your expenses and payables is essential. In Singapore, tax-registered companies can claim input tax credits to offset the GST they collect from sales. Recording taxes accurately ensures you can substantiate these claims during audits and maximize your eligible deductions.

Why Track Tax on Expenses?

When your company is GST-registered, the taxes you pay on business purchases (input tax) can be used to reduce the taxes you owe from sales (output tax). For example, if you collected $1,000 in GST from invoices but paid $300 in GST on business expenses, you only owe $700 to the tax authority.

Tracking tax on expenses and payables in Officaid helps you:

Maintain accurate records for GST filing and audits
Calculate your input tax credits automatically
Ensure compliance with tax regulations

If your company is not registered for tax, you can skip adding tax to your expenses. To enable tax for your company, see Setting Up the Tax Registry.

Enabling Tax on an Expense or Payable

The process is the same for both expenses and payables:

1 Create a new expense or payable, or edit an existing one
2 Toggle the Taxable switch to enable tax fields
3 Select a tax rate from the Tax dropdown (e.g., GST 9.0% or GST Exempt)
4 The Tax Amount will be calculated automatically based on the amount entered
5 Save your expense or payable

Need a tax rate that's not in the list? Click + Add New in the Tax dropdown to create a new rate without leaving the form.

How Tax Is Calculated

Officaid uses the inclusive price method for expenses and payables. This means the amount you enter is treated as the final amount you paid, which already includes tax.

This approach makes sense because when you pay for something, you pay the total amount inclusive of GST. Unlike invoices where you might add GST on top of a base price, expenses reflect what actually left your account.

Calculation Formula (for 9% GST):

To find the GST amount from a GST-inclusive price:

GST Amount = Total Amount × (9 ÷ 109)

To find the price before GST:

Price before GST = Total Amount - GST Amount

Example:

If you record an expense of $120.00 with GST 9.0%:

GST Amount = $120.00 × (9 ÷ 109) = $9.91
Price before GST = $120.00 - $9.91 = $110.09

Officaid calculates this automatically when you select a tax rate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to add tax to every expense?

No. Only add tax to expenses where GST was charged and you want to claim input tax credits. Some purchases may be GST-exempt or from non-registered suppliers.

Why can't I see any tax rates in the dropdown?

Tax rates must be set up in the Tax Registry before they appear in the dropdown. Go to Admin → Company and click Tax Registry to add your tax rates.

Can I use different tax rates for different expenses?

Yes. Each expense and payable can have its own tax rate. Simply select the appropriate rate from the Tax dropdown when creating or editing the record.

What's Next?

Now that you understand how to track taxes, explore these related guides:

Setting Up the Tax Registry - Configure your company's tax rates
Recording an Expense - Add expenses with tax tracking
Creating a Payable - Track bills with tax amounts

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