SINGAPORE : Two Malaysian men were caught trying to evade the goods and services tax (GST) on items they brought into Singapore at Woodlands Checkpoint, Singapore Customs said in a Facebook post on Friday (June 14).
Both men were nabbed by Singapore Customs officers on Monday.
One of them, a 30-year-old, under-declared the value of 45 pieces of machine components in plastic wrap. He was issued a composition sum of $330.
A few hours later, a 33-year-old man was caught for under-declaring the value of 439 pieces of motorcycle accessories.
The accessories were found to be worth about four times higher than the declared value, and the man was issued with a composition sum of $1,565.
Both men had intended to bring the items into Singapore for commercial purposes and under-declared the value of the items in a bid to maximise their profits, Singapore Customs said in the Facebook post.
There is no GST relief for goods imported for commercial purposes.
“It is the responsibility of travellers to make accurate and complete declarations of all taxable items brought into Singapore,” the post said.
Under the Customs Act, any person who fail to declare, or make an incorrect declaration of taxable goods, may be fined up to 10 times the amount of duty and/or GST evaded, or charged in court.
