Two individuals, Lim Moy Hai, 70, and Chua Kok Khoon, 48, were convicted of filing incorrect returns of income tax by omitting from their returns rental income amounting to $352,205 and $299,769 for the Years of Assessment (YAs)2011 to 2013 and 2012 to 2014 respectively.
The court imposed fines on Lim and Chua of $9000 and $7500 respectively and a penalty of two times the amount of taxes undercharged of $112,911 and $105,709 on Lim and Chua respectively.
Lim and Chua co-owned 11 commercial and residential properties and rented out these properties to various tenants. In addition to the 11 properties that Lim co-owned with Chua, Lim also owned or co-owned 5 other residential and commercial properties with other individuals.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) stated that investigations revealed that Lim had failed to declare a total rental income of $352,205 for YAs 2011 to 2013 in respect of the 16 properties which were owned or co-owned by him.
Meanwhile, Chua had failed to declare a total rental income of $299,769 for YAs 2012 to 2014 derived by him from the 11 properties co-owned by him and Lim.
In the press release by IRAS, the authority said that it imposes lower penalties for taxpayers who promptly come forward with full disclosure of the mistakes they uncovered from self-reviews. Taxpayers who wish to disclose past mistakes or report malpractices can write to the authority.
It also said that 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 a recovery of tax that would have otherwise been lost.
The authority said that all payments are at the discretion of the Comptroller, noting that it will ensure that the identities of informants are kept strictly confidential.
The authority posted a notification on 2019’s Property Tax, noting that the annual property due date is 31 January.
