S'pore car trader, 54, fined over S$800,000 for evading tax

A former car trader, 54-year-old Rickey Tan, was sentenced to 12 months and two weeks' jail on Dec. 22 after being convicted of income tax evasion and failing to register for Goods and Services Tax (GST).

He was also ordered to pay a tax penalty of S$806,861, and fined S$3,500.

Did not declare his income

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Tan traded car bodies both in his personal capacity and through his company, Car Ranger.

However, he did not declare the income earned from his personal trading activities in 2018 and 2019.

Though an accounting firm prepared and submitted the tax returns on his behalf, Tan did not inform them of the additional personal income he had earned.

This led to inaccurate entries being made in his tax returns for both years.

While Tan declared an income of S$195,000 for the year of assessment 2018, he actually earned S$904,628.

This meant he omitted more than S$709,000 in undeclared income.

In 2019, he again declared earning S$195,000, even though his actual income amounted to S$708,426.

This was an omission of over S$513,000.

The income tax undercharged exceeded S$100,000 in each year.

The prosecution noted that Tan knew he was required to accurately report his income, but "wilfully" chose not to do so to avoid paying more taxes.

Failed to register for GST

Tan was also convicted of a GST offence after failing to register for GST despite his taxable supplies exceeding S$1 million.

Records show that his business, Car Ranger, crossed the registration threshold in June 2013.

He was required to notify the tax authorities within 30 days of Jun. 30, 2013, and register himself as a taxable person.

But he failed to do so, resulting in unpaid GST of about S$245,421.

Top photos via Canva