Kung Seah Lim, 61, a practising Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and sole-proprietor of Kung Seah Lim & Co., was convicted in Court today for wilfully omitting trade income of $342,836.00 in his Income Tax Returns for Years of Assessment (“YAs”) 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011, thereby evading $45,567.73 in income tax.

Kung Seah Lim is the second practising CPA in Singapore to be convicted for tax evasion. His sole-proprietorship provided audit, liquidation and tax services.

Kung Seah Lim pleaded guilty to two charges of tax evasion. Three remaining charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. The Court sentenced Kung Seah Lim to 6 weeks’ jail and ordered him to pay a penalty of $105,400.53, three times the amount of tax evaded. In default of payment of the penalty, the default sentence would be 18 weeks.

CPA Admitted to Tax Evasion

Investigations revealed that Kung Seah Lim had not declared the trade income from Kung Seah Lim & Co. for five YAs. Kung Seah Lim had the invoice and expense records as well as staff to prepare the profit and loss statements. He was solely responsible for signing the tax invoices issued to customers, and was well aware of the revenue earned from his business. He had deliberately declared ‘no trade income’ when filing his income tax returns for the five YAs.
Errant Tax Agents Face Stiff Penalties

IRAS takes a serious view of such offences by errant tax agents. Tax agents, especially accountants, have an extensive knowledge and understanding of Singapore’s tax system and are expected to be compliant with their own tax reporting obligations.

IRAS also views tax agents as key partners in helping taxpayers fulfil their tax obligations and should provide tax advice in accordance with tax laws. The majority of tax agents perform their duties ethically and professionally. IRAS will take deterrent actions against tax agents who deliberately under-declare their taxes or facilitate their clients’ under-declaration of taxes.

Disclosure of Past Mistakes or Reporting of Malpractices

Businesses and individuals are encouraged to immediately disclose any past mistakes. IRAS will treat such disclosures as mitigating factors when considering the actions to be taken. Those who wish to disclose past mistakes, reveal evaded taxes, or report malpractices that might indicate tax evasion, can write to:

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Investigation & Forensics Division
55 Newton Road, Revenue House
Singapore 307987
Email: [email protected]

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 the 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 secret and confidential. 

 
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore