Case and status
Lim Yen Ei, sole proprietor of San Jie Hun Xuan Dao Tan, was sentenced to 11 weeks in prison and a S$125,962.20 penalty for evading income tax for YA 2020. Five further charges were considered in sentencing.
Facts, amounts and outcome
Lim reported trade income of S$16,588 although actual income was S$324,482, nearly 20 times the declared figure. IRAS reported S$41,987 of income tax undercharged. Religious-service income earned through the business was not excluded from tax reporting. The release also stresses maintaining proper transaction records: income-tax records for five years from the relevant YA, and GST records for at least five years from the prescribed accounting period.
Records and supporting evidence
IRAS stresses accurate records of business income, costs and taxable transactions, supported by real invoices, receipts, bank statements and payment evidence. The release specifies five-year retention for the relevant income-tax years or GST accounting periods. Unsupported claims may be challenged, and record-keeping can be an obligation separate from paying tax. Digitised records should remain complete and traceable to the underlying transaction.
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 ↗