Mr Ng Choon Tat Henry (“Ng”), 54, was jailed for 3 weeks and ordered to pay a penalty of $941,169.96, three times the taxes evaded, for under-reporting profits of Full Skil Wire Cut Services (FSWC) amounting to $1,457,059 for the Years of Assessment (YA) 2000 to 2002. In default of payment, he would be sentenced to 4 months’ jail.

FSWC was in the business of designing and manufacturing of tools, dies and moulds as well as metal stamping. Ng was the sole proprietor of FSWC from 1 April 1994 to 20 July 2004.

Investigations revealed that Ng had deliberately under-reported his income in his income tax returns for YA 2000, 2001 and 2002 by overstating the cost of sales so as to reduce the net profits of his business. Ng pleaded guilty to two charges of tax evasion. As Ng was cooperative during the investigation, the third charge was taken into consideration in sentencing. The total tax evaded for the two charges amounted to $313,723.32.

Voluntary Disclosure Provides a Second Chance

Tax evasion is a criminal offence that attracts severe penalties. Businesses and individuals should come forward to report past tax evasion to IRAS immediately. IRAS will treat such disclosure as a mitigating factor when considering the penal charges.

Some businesses and individuals could have made mistakes in their reporting because they were negligent or were unaware of their tax obligations. IRAS views such mistakes differently from tax evasion. IRAS would like to remind all businesses to keep proper records and accounts of all their transactions. Businesses must keep their records up-to-date and ensure that the records support their income tax declarations.

To encourage taxpayers to disclose errors or omissions and to come forward voluntarily, IRAS will reduce penalties for voluntary disclosures that meet certain conditions under the “IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme”. Taxpayers who wish to disclose errors made in their declarations or report malpractices of others that might indicate tax evasion should email to [email protected] or write to:

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

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).