Two Directors of Plastic Cards Company Convicted for Income Tax Evasion and Failure to Register for GST

Case and status

TNT Cards & Silkscreen directors and TNT Art & Silkscreen partners Tan Song Cheng and Lim Geok Mee were convicted of income-tax evasion and non-registration for GST. Across YAs 2009–2016 they omitted over S$1.5 million and S$773,037 of trade and employment income respectively.

Facts, amounts and outcome

For two proceeded income-tax charges each, Tan received 12 weeks and S$208,309 penalties; Lim received four weeks and S$63,585 penalties. Remaining personal-tax charges were considered. TNT’s GST-registration failure caused S$33,315 unaccounted GST, with each director receiving S$3,332 penalties and a S$2,000 fine. Sales figures had been falsely reduced below S$1 million to avoid registration.

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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