Mr Goh Ah Bah, a 52-year old businessman, was found guilty of omitting to declare his rental income in his income tax returns for Year of Assessment 2005, which amounted to $139,040.38. He was sentenced to 1 week’s jail and ordered to pay a penalty of $74,065.80 after pleading guilty to one charge. In default of payment, he would be sentenced to 3 months’ jail.

Mr Goh owns a number of properties including HDB shop-houses. He had deliberately not declared the rental income he received from these properties in his income tax returns for the Years of Assessment 2000 to 2006. He has committed seven tax offences for omitting to declare rental income totaling $511,707.98. He pleaded guilty to one offence. The other six offences have been compounded by the Comptroller of Income Tax at 3 times the tax under-declared.

IRAS detects non-reporting of rental income through various means including reviewing tenancy records and property ownership records. Taxpayers should report the total rent from their property including the rent on furniture and fittings and service charges received from the tenant. Those who have not done so should report their rental income to IRAS immediately. More details on what to look out for when reporting rental income can be found at  Rental Income and Expenses

Voluntary Disclosure Pays, Tax Crime Does Not

It is a serious offence to omit or under-declare rental income and the Court imposes severe penalties for such offences. IRAS will take actions against those who deliberately omit or under-declare their income. Businesses and 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.

Taxpayers who wish to disclose errors made in their past income tax returns or report malpractices that might indicate tax evasion should write to:

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Investigation & Forensics Division
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 is available in IRAS’ e-Tax Guide (PDF, 476KB).

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore