Lim Chwee Hock (“LCH”), 57, a former director of several businesses dealing in automobile spare parts, was found guilty of tax evasion and jailed for 2 weeks and ordered to pay a penalty of $54,332.85.

LCH was made an undischarged bankrupt from February 1999 to August 2004. During this period, he continued his business in distributing automobile spare parts through Amigo International Auto (“Amigo”), a sole-proprietorship he had instructed his brother-in-law to set up in February 1998. Investigations revealed that as the de facto owner of Amigo, LCH did not report the commission received from his overseas suppliers in the form of credit notes, and consequently under-declared income of $179,519.49 in his tax returns for the Year of Assessment 2002 and 2003.

LCH was brought to court for five charges for failing to declare the income he earned from the business for the Years of Assessment 2002 to 2006. He pleaded guilty to two of the charges, and the remaining three charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.

Voluntary Disclosure Pays, Tax Crime Does Not

Tax evasion/fraud is a criminal offence punishable under the law and the Court imposes severe penalties for such offences. Businesses or individuals should disclose any past tax evasion immediately. IRAS will treat such disclosure as a mitigating factor when considering the penal charges.

IRAS is also aware that some businesses and individuals could be negligent or unaware of their tax obligations, resulting in mistakes. IRAS views such mistakes differently from tax evasion. In the spirit of encouraging voluntary compliance, IRAS imposes lower penalties for such mistakes disclosed voluntarily by taxpayers.

Those who wish to disclose past mistakes or evasion or report malpractices that might indicate tax evasion should write to:

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

Email: [email protected]

IRAS will ensure that the identities of informants are kept confidential.

More information on voluntary disclosure of mistakes is available in IRAS’ e-Tax Guide (PDF, 476KB).