14 weeks’ jail for sole-proprietor for evading GST
15 Jan 2021
Pua Om
Tee ("Pua"), a 58-year-old sole proprietor of two exhibition printing
firms Wah Ye Advertising ("Wah Ye") and Little Box Event and
Exhibition Printing ("Little Box"), has been convicted for wilful
intent to evade the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by making false entries in the
GST returns in respect of her two business entities between 2013 and 2016.
Court Sentences
Pua faced a total of 11 GST charges under
section 62(1)(b) of the GST Act for omitting the GST output tax of certain
sales transactions from her GST returns for the quarters ending June 2013 to
September 2016, which resulted in GST undercharged totalling $226,903. Of the
charges, the prosecution proceeded with 3 charges against Pua. She pleaded guilty
to the 3 proceeded charges involving a total of $107,911 in GST undercharged.
The
Court sentenced Pua to 14 weeks of
imprisonment and ordered her to pay a penalty
of $323,733, which is three times the amount of tax undercharged. The
remaining 8 charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of
sentencing.
IRAS' audit programme uncovered the offence
IRAS conducts regular
audits of GST-registered businesses, and such GST omissions can be detected
through the use of data analysis and risk profiling. Using data analytics and
advanced statistical tools, IRAS is able to cross-check data and detect
anomalies. This case was uncovered through one such audit programme.
Severe Penalties for GST Evasion
It is a serious offence to wilfully submit false GST
returns by overstating any input tax, understating any output tax or including
fictitious transactions. Upon conviction, offenders may face a penalty of three
times the amount of tax undercharged, a fine not exceeding $10,000, and/or
imprisonment of up to seven years.
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:
ifd@iras.gov.sg
Cash Rewards for Informant
A
reward based on 15% of the tax recovered, capped at $100,000, will 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.
Inland Revenue Authority of
Singapore