Restaurant Director Convicted of Unlawful Collection of GST and Failure to Register for GST

Case and status

Asia Pacific Restaurant director Tan Zi Hong was convicted in July 2020 over GST charged while the company was unregistered. Investigations identified 183 receipts between December 2012 and February 2014 collecting S$6,891, and failure to notify registration after sales crossed S$1 million.

Facts, amounts and outcome

For 61 proceeded unauthorised-collection counts, Tan received S$10,197 penalties and S$73,200 fines; 122 similar counts were considered. The separate registration count attracted S$9,940 penalties and a S$4,000 fine. The release contains an inconsistent total-charge figure, so the detailed proceeded and considered counts are used here. Customers can check registration by name or business number before accepting an amount described as GST.

GST registration discussed in this release

The release discusses monitoring taxable turnover on a calendar-year basis, with registration required after annual taxable turnover exceeds S$1 million. It also refers to the forward-looking test where applicable. Taxable turnover is not the same as net profit. Failure to register can still leave GST payable from the liability date even if customers were not charged. The cited consequences include a 10% tax penalty and a possible fine up to S$10,000. Registration dates and procedures should be read in the context of the release year and the official guidance.

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.

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