Dayum, for all the paper currency burnt up for the netherworld, the people who actually create the joss paper are making pretty mad real-life cash.
Forget selling really good roast meat; Chwee Guan Joss Paper Sticks & Candles Trading Co was found to have raked in thousands of dollars when it evaded paying taxes. According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), the two partners in the joss paper company were said to be behind the biggest case of tax evasion in the country in the last five years.
Brothers Teo Chwee Guan and Teo Seo Gee were ordered to cough up taxes and penalties of over $2.3 million for offences related to income tax and goods and services tax (GST) offences back in 2013, AsiaOne reported.
They under-reported their share of profits for two years, and under-reported the amount of GST the company collected from sales for over nine years.
IRAS investigations revealed that the partnership had understated its profits by $70,372 for 2009 and $434,636 for 2010. All for selling joss papers, sticks, candles and other ceremonial products — whodathunkit?
Alongside cases like the joss paper company and the recent Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint fraud, IRAS has recovered some $1.8 billion from cases of tax evasion investigated in the last five years, TODAY reported.
Family-run businesses and self-employed/sole-proprietors were also said to have a higher tendency to make mistakes or intentionally omit certain income and commission information when submitting tax returns. Depending on the facts of individual cases, IRAS will either come on strong with prosecution or deal with them through stern warnings, compositions or lower charges.
