SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines pilot was jailed for six months on Friday (Apr 21) after he pleaded guilty to tax offences, including failing to declare rental income from two properties.
Andrew Soo Cheng Ai, 51, will also have to pay a financial penalty of S$181,996 or serve an in-default jail term of three months and four weeks.
Soo pleaded guilty to four charges under the Income Tax Act. Another nine charges related to tax evasion, including under-declaring his personal income tax, were considered for sentencing.
At the time of the offences, Soo owned and rented out two properties at 400 Balestier Road, and 21 Kim Yam Road, listed as Balestier Plaza and Waterford Residence Condominium respectively.
According to an Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) tax prosecutor, Soo made false entries pertaining to his income from the rental properties for the Year of Assessment 2014 with the wilful intent to evade tax.
He failed to declare S$89,715 in rental income, resulting in S$15,354 in taxes undercharged.
He also gave false information for the total gross rent, expenses and net rent of his rental properties in an email reply to the Comptroller of Income Tax for the Year of Assessment 2013 to Year of Assessment 2018.
The false information, if accepted by IRAS, would have resulted in S$35,310 in taxes undercharged.
Soo also submitted multiple fictitious invoices and documents to IRAS to support his inflated claims for expenses pertaining to his rental properties for Year of Assessment 2013 and Year of Assessment 2014.
The invoices and documents were found to be fake upon IRAS’ investigations.
If the fake documents had been accepted, about S$7,500 in taxes would have been undercharged.
In a statement to the media, IRAS said it takes a serious view of non-compliance and tax evasion.
“All businesses and individuals are reminded that they are required to provide full cooperation during the course of IRAS’ audits and investigations. IRAS will not hesitate to take stern actions against those who deliberately give false information to IRAS officers,” it said.
Offenders may face a penalty of up to four times the amount of tax evaded along with jail terms.
Those found guilty of giving false answers to IRAS officers for the purposes of evading tax will face a penalty of three times the amount of tax undercharged, and be liable to a fine not exceeding S$10,000 and/or a jail term of up to seven years.
Singapore Airlines declined to comment when asked about Soo’s employment status.