Industry review and segregated income
IRAS reviewed 18 companies through desk/on-site audits of operations, records and accounting. The source cites historical private-hire population 29,369 in 2015, 77,141 in 2019, 71,147 in 2020 and 67,990 in 2021, not current counts. 10F covers motor-car hire, driving instruction/chauffeur business. Commercial vehicle rental, repair and passive interest/property rental are separate.
Quarantine and allocate
10F costs and capital allowances offset only that business income; excess cannot offset other income or transfer group relief. Unused losses/allowances remain in the same company against future 10F income where applicable. Direct costs/allowances follow specific sources; shared items use reasonable turnover/vehicle-count allocation. Prepare separate P&L/tax-computation streams rather than netting everything together.
Deposits, private use and generic errors
Companies agreed to tax inactive/expired-contract deposits outstanding at least six years from expiry, referencing Limitation Act section 6 contract claims. This audit fact should not be simplified to every fresh deposit being taxable. Quantify directors/staff private rental-car use and disallow related expenses. Non-trade/not-yet-bad debts, private entertainment, interest on non-income-producing assets and non-qualifying capital expenditure were also wrongly deducted.
Disclosure consequences in the source
Section 95 negligent/unreasonably incorrect returns may carry twice-undercharged-tax penalty; serious errors may be prosecuted. The source VDP offers penalty waiver for qualifying disclosures within one year of statutory 30 November filing, then reduced 5% per annum after the grace period. Preserve qualification and source-era context rather than promising every disclosure a waiver.
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
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