I must admit I found this confusing as I understood that duty free purchases are only available to transit and departing passengers and not arriving passengers, and that they become liable to taxes if you wish to enter Singapore. Is that incrrect?
Mostly. For reasons I won't claim to understand, the transit area duty free shops only sell to transiting and departing passengers. However, the mini duty free shops after Immigration, next to the baggage claims but still before Customs, obviously
do sell to arriving passengers, and no, you don't pay taxes.
According to Sg customs regulations, your duty free limit depends on how long you've been out of the country and where you're coming from. Basically, if you've been outside Sg for >48 hours and are not coming from Malaysia, you can buy duty-free booze.
http://www.customs.gov.sg/leftNav/tr...ST+Relief.html