Mdm Poh Chai Ha, a sole proprietor of a corporate secretarial firm, O.T. Corporate Services & Consultancy, was charged in court on 1st August 2008 for 11 tax evasion charges of under-reporting income totalling $2,441,413 for the Years of Assessment 1995 to 2005 from her business.

Mdm Poh, who is a director of OT Corporate Services Pte Ltd (“OTCSPL”), was also charged for committing two other offences:

• For assisting OTCSPL to omit income of $172,490 for the Year of Assessment 2006, and
• For maintaining false record on subcontractor expenses amounting to $240,000 for the Year of Assessment 2006.

This morning at Magistrate Court 36, the Comptroller of Income Tax withdrew the 13 charges against Mdm Poh. Her tax offences for under-reporting her business income had been compounded for $983,685.93. Together with the tax of $327,895.31 that was underpaid, she was ordered to pay a total amount of $1,311,581.24. In compounding Mdm Poh’s tax offences, the Comptroller took into consideration the representations by her counsel and the cooperation rendered by her during the investigation.

A week earlier on 28 April 2009, OTCSPL had been fined $15,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of $64,403.76 for omitting income of $172,490 from its income tax return for the Year of Assessment 2006 and $191,925.92 for maintaining false record on subcontractor expenses amounting to $240,000 for the same year. OTCSPL was the first company to be charged and convicted under Section 96A. Section 96A was enacted in 2003 to deter serious tax evasion such as preparation or maintenance of false books of accounts or other records, and carries a heavy penalty of 4 times the amount of tax evaded.

Reporting of malpractices

IRAS would like to remind taxpayers that any person who commits tax evasion or assists others to commit tax evasion is guilty of an offence under the Income Tax Act and is liable for prosecution. There is no limit to the number of past years that IRAS can charge for tax evasion offences committed.

Taxpayers are encouraged to review and disclose errors made in their declarations voluntarily. To encourage voluntary compliance, IRAS will impose lower penalties for errors disclosed voluntarily by taxpayers. Any member of the public who would like to report malpractices of others that might indicate tax evasion can also contact IRAS. We would ensure that the identities of informants are kept confidential.

Taxpayers who wish to disclose any errors made in their declarations or to report malpractices of others should write to:

Email: [email protected]
Address: Investigation & Forensics Division,
55 Newton Road,
Singapore 307987

Issued by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore