By The Table desk · Last verified 28 September 2026
A drink in a Singapore bar carries three layers of cost: tax, rent and the ++. Alcohol is taxed by the litre of pure alcohol it contains, and GST is added on top. Then the bar adds its rent, staff and glassware, and finally the 10 per cent service charge and 9 per cent GST on your bill. The tax is the smallest of those layers; the room is the biggest.
Quick facts
- Excise duty is charged per litre of pure alcohol: S$88 for wine and spirits, S$60 for beer.
- Imported beer and stout carry an extra customs duty.
- GST of 9 per cent is charged on imports, including the duty.
- The duty in a pint of beer is roughly S$1.70 to S$2.20.
- Happy hour usually means 1-for-1 or cut-price pints in the late afternoon and early evening.
- Travellers get a duty-free allowance on arrival.
How is alcohol taxed?
By the alcohol it contains. Excise duty is charged per litre of pure alcohol: S$88 for wine and spirits, and S$60 for beer, according to the rates importers publish. Imported beer, ale and stout also carry a customs duty of S$16 per litre of alcohol. GST is then charged on the imported goods at 9 per cent, calculated on their value plus the duty.
How much tax is in my drink?
Less than you’d think. Working from those rates, before GST:
| Drink | Pure alcohol | Duty |
|---|---|---|
| Pint (568ml) of 5% local beer | 0.028 litres | About S$1.70 |
| Pint (568ml) of 5% imported beer | 0.028 litres | About S$2.16 |
| 45ml shot of 40% spirit | 0.018 litres | About S$1.58 |
| 750ml bottle of 13.5% wine | 0.101 litres | About S$8.91 |
| 700ml bottle of 40% whisky | 0.28 litres | About S$24.64 |
So why is the bar price so much higher?
Because most of what you pay for is the room. Rent, staff, ice, glassware and the bar’s margin sit on top of the duty, and then the ++ goes on top of all of it. A pint listed at S$17.50++ is S$20.98 on the bill, of which roughly S$2 is duty. With cocktails it’s even starker: the duty on the spirit is about S$1.58, and everything else is ice, labour, skill and rent.
How does happy hour work?
It’s a window, usually late afternoon to early evening, when bars cut prices to fill seats. The common formats are 1-for-1 deals, discounted pints and cheaper house pours. One Orchard bar’s 2025 happy hour ran full pints at S$14++, and a Clarke Quay chain offered 1-for-1 pints from S$17.50++. Beer towers, which hold about three litres, are the group version.
Read the small print. Happy hour prices are almost always ++, and 1-for-1 means ordering two. Two pints at S$17.50++ come to S$20.98, or S$10.49 each, but only if both get drunk.
Where is drinking cheaper?
Coffee shops, where a big bottle of beer costs a fraction of bar prices and there’s no service charge. Supermarkets, for drinking at home. A restaurant that allows corkage, for a good bottle. And the duty-free shop on arrival: travellers aged 18 and over who’ve spent at least 48 hours outside Singapore, and aren’t arriving from Malaysia, can bring in duty-free alcohol. The allowance is one litre each of any two of spirits, wine and beer, or two litres of wine or beer.
The WahLiao Verdict
Pay for the duty, not the rent: drink at happy hour, have a big bottle at the coffee shop, or buy duty-free at Changi. At full price in a city bar, most of the bill is for the chair.
Questions people ask
Is happy hour pricing ++?
Almost always. Multiply by 1.199.
Why is wine so expensive in restaurants?
About S$9 of duty per bottle, then import costs, GST, the restaurant’s markup and the ++. It’s why corkage is popular here.
Is local beer cheaper than imported?
On duty, slightly: locally brewed beer skips the customs duty that imported beer pays. At the bar, the difference is usually lost in the price.
Can I bring more than the duty-free allowance?
Yes, if you declare it and pay the duty and GST on the extra.
Sources: Singapore Customs rates as published by importers (Cellarbration, DHL); CAAS, AIP GEN 1.3 on duty-free concessions; SingSaver, happy hour promotions guide (2025); Seth Lui on beer towers. Duty figures are the desk’s own arithmetic from those rates.
Read next: Singapore’s Drinking Rules · Corkage in Singapore · What ++ Means on a Singapore Menu · Back to The Table
For what’s worth it this week, with the bill shown, read The WahLiao Week.
