Case and status
Pilot Andrew Soo Cheng Ai received six months’ imprisonment and S$181,996 in penalties after conviction on four Income Tax Act charges. He owned rental properties on Balestier Road and Kim Yam Road.
Facts, amounts and outcome
For YA 2014 he omitted S$89,715 of rent, causing S$15,354 of tax undercharged. False audit replies would have caused another S$35,310 of undercharged tax if accepted. Fictitious invoices supporting inflated rental expenses for YAs 2013–2014 would have caused S$7,500 of undercharged tax. These hypothetical effects of rejected false information must be distinguished from tax actually undercharged. Multiple opportunities to correct his replies did not prevent prosecution after he continued providing false information.
Disclosure, reporting and rewards
IRAS encourages taxpayers to correct past errors and report suspected tax malpractices. The release says disclosure may be considered when deciding enforcement action; it is not a blanket promise of immunity. Where the release describes informant rewards, qualifying information leading to otherwise lost tax recovery may attract 15% of recovered tax, capped at S$100,000, at IRAS’ discretion. Informant identities are kept confidential. Use the official release links for its reporting and disclosure channels.
Official source
This report is independently written from the IRAS release dated above. Case status, policy announcements and historical figures refer to that release.
Read the complete IRAS release ↗