Ah Seng Durian brothers punished for tax evasion
Older brother jailed, fined while other fined after they under-declared trading income
The two brothers were durian sellers who had pleaded guilty to tax evasion last Friday and Shui Poh Chung, 57, was then fined $10,000 and made to pay a penalty of $46,303.
Yesterday, Shui Poh Sing, 60, was jailed for three weeks, fined $5,000 and made to pay a penalty of $77,078.
They were allowed to pay the fines and penalties through instalments over a period of six months.
The brothers, of Ah Seng Durian in Ghim Moh, had under-declared their trading income by about $708,000 over six years.
The older Shui was the managing partner of minimart businesses Shanghai Moh Lee Seng and Seng Chung Trading, while the younger brother was his business partner.
In 2006, the turnover for Shanghai Moh Lee Seng crossed the $1 million threshold, but the older brother failed to register the business for goods and services tax by Jan 31, 2007.
The duo were found to have used the undeclared income from the sale of durians by Seng Chung Trading to finance mortgage payments of their properties in Malaysia.
The court was told that while they shared the business profits equally, the older Shui handled the accounts and record keeping of the business, despite having no training in accountancy.
A business that fails to register for GST within 30 days after their 12-month taxable turnover has exceed $1 million may be required to pay 10 per cent of GST due as penalty and fined up to $10,000.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) encourages businesses or individuals to immediately disclose any past tax mistakes. Such disclosures will be taken as mitigating factors.
Informants who disclose such offences to Iras may be given a reward of 15 per cent of the tax recovered, if the information provided leads to a recovery of tax.
Last night, in a lengthy Facebook post on Ah Seng Durian's page, the brothers admitted "there are indeed lapses in the past accounts which we are accountable. And of which, we are regrettable and prepared to accept the charges".
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