Singapore customs officers have arrested a 34-year-old Singaporean man for smuggling tax evaded goods through the Woodlands Checkpoint. The arrested man was trying to avoid Goods and Service Tax (GST) on more than 200 long dresses when he was caught.
While conducting the routine check at the checkpoint on June 28, customs officers found that the man had underdeclared the value of the assets he was trying to bring into Singapore.
As per latest updates, the GST evaded by the man amounted to S$370, and as a penalty, he was fined S$3,700.
Later, Singapore Customs department in their Facebook post revealed that the actual value of the goods the accused was trying to smuggle was about seven times higher the amount declared by the man. As per investigation officers, the man did this act to maximize his profit margin once these goods reached the Singaporean market.
"Further investigations revealed that the actual value was about seven times higher than the amount declared by the man. The dresses were meant for sale in Singapore and the man had underdeclared the value of the dresses in an attempt to maximize his profits," posted the customs department on their official Facebook page.
Singapore Customs department further requested all travellers and business people entering the country to make accurate and complete declarations of all taxable items brought into Singapore.
As per Singaporean Customs Act, any person who commits an incorrect declaration of taxable goods may be compounded up to ten times the amount of GST evaded or may be charged in the court.
A similar incident happened in Singapore on June 19, when a 35-year-old Malaysian man was arrested for allegedly smuggling 6800 sachets of chewing tobacco via Woodlands Checkpoint.
In another case happened in April, Singapore Customs arrested eight men and seized 5,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes from a motor workshop in an industrial building, located at Kaki Bukit Avenue 4.
