From January to October 2023, the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints saw 4,669 cases of travellers and importers who failed to pay duties and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Nearly S$1,422,460 was handed out in penalties for these cases and the amount of duties and GST recovered was S$14,190.67, according to a joint press release by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Customs.

Half of the 58 cases detected in October were tobacco-related

For the month of October, 58 cases were detected and S$624.45 in duties and GST were recovered.

S$9,700 in penalties were also handed out.

About half of the cases were tobacco-related.

However, cases involving home ware and furnishings, as well as fashion and personal accessories, like parts of furniture items, curtains, luxury bags, shoes and belts, are also on the rise.

28 per cent of the recent cases came from these categories.

Over 200 inbound cars and travellers were checked

The ICA and Singapore Customs added that during the month of October, more than 200 inbound cars and travellers were directed for inbound checks.

During these checks, a variety of irregularities were detected.

One cases involved a female traveller who was found with two undeclared luxury bags. The amount of GST involved was S$57.65 and a penalty of S$575 was imposed.

Another case involved a male Work Permit Holder who failed to declare 10 sets of night curtains in his vehicle which were intended for commercial use. The amount of GST involved was S$60.40 and a penalty of S$600 was imposed.

There were also two cases of people who were caught with packets of undeclared cigarettes, one involving a female Singaporean who concealed the packets around her waistline and another involving a male Permanent Resident (PR) who was found with four packets in his bag at a bus arrival hall.

All of the packets were disposed of at the checkpoint as they did not comply with Standard Packaging (SP) requirements.

A spokesperson for Singapore Customs said:

"It is not worth to take a risk and pay more. We have seen people trying to evade duty and GST as low as S$10 to as much as $2,000 and they end up paying 10-20 times more.

Some may even get charged in courts. We urge all travellers and importers including couriers to use the Customs@SG Web application to declare and pay for their overseas purchases truthfully, including goods carried for or on behalf of other persons."

Under the Customs Act, any person who is involved in any fraudulent evasion of customs duties, or attempt to do so, may be fined of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded or jailed for up to two years upon conviction.

Top photos via ICA