20 Jul 2020

Tan Song Cheng (“Tan”), 59 and Lim Geok Mee (“Lim”), 63, directors of TNT Cards & Silkscreen Pte Ltd (“TNTPL”) and business partners of TNT Art & Silkscreen (“TAS”) have been convicted for tax offences. They were found guilty of evading personal Income Tax as well as failing to register TNTPL for Goods and Services Tax (GST). 

Both Tan and Lim faced eight charges each for making false entries, with the wilful intent to evade tax, in their personal Income Tax returns for Years of Assessment 2009 to 2016. Tan and Lim had under-declared their trade and employment income totalling over $1.5 million and $773,037 respectively. This had resulted in $188,622 and $53,021 in taxes undercharged for Tan and Lim.

In addition, they faced one charge each of failing to register TNTPL for GST, when TNTPL had been liable to register for GST by 30 April 2010. This resulted in a failure to account for GST amounting to $33,315. Lim, with the approval of Tan, had falsely reduced TNTPL’s reported sales revenue to below $1 million in order to avoid registering the company for GST.

Court Sentences

For their respective two proceeded Income Tax charges, the Court sentenced Tan to 12 weeks’ imprisonment and a penalty of $208,309 while Lim was sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment and a penalty of $63,585. The penalty imposed is three times the amount of Income Tax evaded. Their respective remaining charges were being taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

In addition, for failing to register TNTPL for GST, Tan and Lim were each ordered to pay a penalty of $3,332 and a fine of $2,000.


Penalties for Non-Compliance

IRAS Warns Against Tax Evasion

IRAS takes a serious view of non-compliance and tax evasion. There will be severe penalties for those who wilfully evade tax. The authority will not hesitate to bring offenders to court. Offenders may face a penalty of up to four times the amount of tax evaded. Jail terms may also be imposed.

GST Registration

All businesses, including individuals deriving income from their trade, profession or vocation, should closely monitor their income on a calendar year basis to assess if they need to register for GST. If their 12-month taxable turnover has exceeded $1 million at the end of the calendar year, they will be required to apply for GST registration within 30 days.

Any business that fails to register for GST is still required to pay GST on all their past transactions from the date the business became liable for GST registration. GST is payable even if the amount was not collected from customers. In addition, failure to register for GST is an offence and businesses may be required to pay 10% of GST due as a penalty, and fined up to $10,000.

Cash Rewards for Informants

A reward based on 15% of the tax recovered, capped at $100,000, would be given to informants if the information and/or documents provided lead to a recovery of tax that would have otherwise been lost. All payments are at the discretion of the Comptroller. IRAS will ensure that the identities of informants are kept strictly confidential.

Reporting of Malpractices

Businesses or individuals are encouraged to immediately disclose any past tax mistakes. IRAS will treat such disclosures as mitigating factors when considering action to be taken. Those who wish to disclose past mistakes or report malpractices can write to:

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Investigation & Forensics Division
55 Newton Road, Revenue House
Singapore 307987

Email: [email protected]


Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore