HERBALIFE INTERNATIONAL SINGAPORE PTE. LTD. v COMPTROLLER OF GOODS AND SERVICES TAX

[2023] SGHC 54 High Court (General Division) 6 March 2023 HC/TA 6/2022

6 cases cited (1 SG, 5 foreign)

Outcome

Appeal allowed

“…the appeal is allowed.”

Source: [2023] SGHC 54, High Court (General Division), decided 6 March 2023. Read directly from the judgment.

Key facts

Court	High Court (General Division)
Decided	6 March 2023
Judge	Choo Han Teck
Charges / claim	Revenue Law
Outcome	Appeal allowed
Counsel	Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Law Division), Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Bjorn Lee Long Jin, Flora Koh Swee Huang, Koh Chon Kiat, Vikna Rajah

Source: [2023] SGHC 54, High Court (General Division), decided 6 March 2023 — eLitigation. Updated 10 July 2026.

Catchwords

Revenue Law — Goods and Services Tax (GST) — value of supply

Practice Areas

Revenue Law

Judges (1)

Choo Han Teck Delivered

Counsel (6)

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Law Division) Firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Firm Bjorn Lee Long Jin Counsel for the respondent

Flora Koh Swee Huang Counsel for the respondent

Koh Chon Kiat Counsel for the appellant

Vikna Rajah Counsel for the appellant

Parties (2)

Comptroller of Goods and Services Tax Respondent

Herbalife International Singapore Pte Ltd Appellant

Case Significance

Herbalife International Singapore Pte Ltd v Comptroller of Goods and Services Tax [2023] SGHC 54 was a judgment of the General Division of the High Court (Choo Han Teck J), reserved after a hearing on 16 January 2023 and delivered on 6 March 2023 in Tax Appeal No 6 of 2022. The appellant, Herbalife International Singapore Pte Ltd, a Singapore-incorporated company marketing and distributing nutritional supplements, weight-management and personal care products through a direct-selling model, sells only to registered Members who resell to consumers and retain the price difference as profit. Brought under section 54(2) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1993 following a Board of Review decision of 6 June 2022, the appeal concerned the GST liability of transactions between the appellant and its Members and the value of supply.

Summary

Herbalife International Singapore appealed a Goods and Services Tax Board of Review decision concerning the GST value of supplies of nutritional products it sold at tiered discounts to its registered Members under a direct-selling model. The dispute was whether GST should be levied on the discounted price or on a higher value reflecting non-monetary consideration under the GST Act. The court allowed the appeal, holding that the solution to the revenue concern lay in legislative valuation provisions rather than an expanded reading of non-monetary consideration.

What was Herbalife v Comptroller of GST [2023] SGHC 54 about?

The tax appeal concerned the GST liability of transactions between Herbalife International Singapore and its registered Members under a direct-selling model, specifically the value of supply. It was brought under section 54(2) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1993, following a Board of Review decision of 6 June 2022.

How does Herbalife's business model work in [2023] SGHC 54?

Herbalife adopts a direct-selling model and does not sell directly to consumers. It sells nutritional, weight-management and personal care products only to registered Members, who resell to consumers and retain the difference between their purchase price and resale price as profit.