There are no duty-free concessions or GST relief for cigarettes and other tobacco products in Singapore since 1991. Persons arriving in Singapore who bring in cigarettes or tobacco products, including SDPC-marked cigarettes and tobacco products, are required to declare them at the Red Channel for payment of duty and GST.
 
Arriving travellers and returning Singaporeans who have brought in cigarettes from overseas for their own consumption and have paid duty are advised to reproduce their receipts issued by Singapore Customs as proof of payment of duty and GST when checked by Customs officers.

From 1 January 2009 onwards, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singaporewithout the SDPC marking will be deemed as duty-unpaid.  Anyone caught selling, buying, or having in possession of duty unpaid cigarettes without the SDPC marking will be committing an offence under the Customs and GST Acts.  Illegal peddlers will be arrested and charged in court.  For every packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes, buyers will be fined $500.

We assessed that this is unlikely.  Nevertheless, we will be monitoring the situation closely and will review our tactics accordingly should the situation change.

The SPDC marking on every stick of duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore is a measure to visibly differentiate duty-paid cigarettes from contraband cigarettes. This will enhance detection by our enforcement officers, and act as deterrence to curb the peddling and buying of contraband cigarettes in Singapore.  The new requirement will reinforce Singapore Customs’ intensified operations to keep contraband cigarettes off the streets.

With effect from 1 January 2009, all individual sticks of cigarettes that are meant for sale or consumption in Singapore will have to bear the SDPC marking. Some licensed retailers may start selling SDPC-marked cigarettes before 1 Jan 2009.