Woman fined S$5,000 for bringing Labubu dolls & other items into S'pore without declaring their value

A female traveller was fined S$5,000 for failing to declare the goods in her possession to Singapore Customs after returning from a business trip in London.

These goods, which were intended as gifts, included Popmart toys, such as Labubu dolls, and designer bags and accessories from luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior.

While the woman admitted that she knew about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) relief limits, she thought customs declarations were only required for personal items.

Eventually, Singapore Customs was able to recover a GST of S$3,963.69 from her case, said the agency in a Nov. 15 media release.

Over 13,000 travellers fined

The woman was only one of the 13,099 travellers who were caught bringing undeclared dutiable and taxable goods into Singapore in the first 10 months of 2024.

According to Singapore Customs, they were caught across air, land, and sea checkpoints.

The total composition sum imposed on these errant travellers was more than S$3.4 million.

As of Nov. 15, 46 individuals who made incorrect or incomplete customs declarations were handed the maximum penalty of S$5,000.

In comparison, during the same period in 2023, 7,193 travellers were caught for the same offence, and the total penalty imposed was S$2,303,380.

Penalties for evading customs duty and/or GST

Similar to the agency's findings in 2023, Singapore Customs continues to observe in 2024 that common violations involved goods from the following categories:

1. Commercial goods (e.g., renovation materials, carpentry items, machinery parts)
2. Apparel and accessories (e.g., bags, clothing, mobile phones, watches)
3. Health and food products
4. cigarettes and alcohol (e.g., duty-unpaid and exceeding duty-free allowance)

Singapore Customs emphasised that it works with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to conduct checks across all checkpoints to detect and deter violations.

All goods brought into the country by travellers, including foreign visitors and residents, are subject to GST.

This rule applies regardless of whether the traveller has already paid foreign sales or value-added tax.

Those found guilty of engaging in fraudulent evasion of, or attempting to fraudulently evade any customs duty or excise duty, are punishable under the law.

They could be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded or jailed for up to two years.

How to declare & pay taxes

Singapore Customs encouraged travellers to Singapore to make advance declarations and payments for their dutiable or GST goods up to three days before their arrival.

They can do so by using the Customs@SG web application.

They can also pay their taxes at the customs tax payment office at the various checkpoints, and customs officers will be available to assist them.

More information on GST import relief entitlements and duty-free allowances can be found here.

Top images via Xiaohongshu; photos for illustration purposes only