Famous Tip Top Curry Puffs owner jailed for tax evasion
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SINGAPORE: The owner of a famous curry puff stall in Ang Mo Kio Central has been sentenced to two weeks' jail for under declaring his profits so as to evade taxes.
Looi Saan Cheng, the boss of Tip Top Curry Puffs, pleaded guilty in the Subordinate Courts on Friday.
Besides a jail term, he also has to pay a penalty three times the amount of tax undercharged.
The 63-year-old runs a successful curry puff business, and was even mentioned during a National Day Rally.
IRAS said this is the first case where a hawker in a coffee shop has been prosecuted for tax evasion.
IRAS prosecutor Sinnadurai Maniam proceeded with two of the six original charges.
The court heard that Looi had on 2 April 2005 made a false entry when he filed his income tax returns. He stated that he had earned a net profit of S$6,080, when the actual amount was S$199,960.
Looi under-declared again in 2006. This time, he stated that net profit earned was S$18,204, when the amount was in fact S$236,140.
As a result, the amount of tax evaded in both instances came up to S$65,396.
The judge sentenced Looi to two weeks' jail on each of the two charges. However, the sentences will run concurrently, so Looi will only serve a two-week jail term.
He will also have to pay a penalty of S$196,195.
In arguing for a deterrent sentence, the prosecutor stressed that under-declarations or other instances of evasion operate as fraud to the authorities. This constitutes a serious offence which should be punished appropriately. - CNA/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/304035/1/.html -
Chong Chee Kin
Sat, Oct 06, 2007
The Straits Times
OVER six years, Looi San Cheng made $1.06 million selling his famous Tip Top curry puffs from his Ang Mo Kio hawker stall.
But when it came to giving the taxman his due, Looi lied and declared profits of only $2,800 between 2001 and last year.
Yesterday, Looi became the first hawker to be convicted and jailed for tax evasion.
Looi, who will spend two weeks in jail for two of the six charges under the Income Tax Act, was also ordered to pay a penalty of $196,000 - three times the amount of taxes he dodged in 2005 and last year.
The remaining four charges were withdrawn after Looi paid a further $291,000 penalty to compound them.
Looi could have been jailed up to three years.
The 63-year-old founder of the family-run business made headlines in August last year on a much happier note.
Tip Top was cited by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech as a small local company having made inroads overseas, with outlets in Harbin and Shenyang in China.
Looi had started humbly, selling the snacks at his Marine Parade bakery in 1976. They became so popular that he moved to his present location three years later.
A different picture was painted of Looi yesterday by Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) prosecutor Sinnadurai Maniam.
He told the court that Looi had wilfully made false entries in his income tax returns for six years.
Following a tip-off in September last year, Iras raided Looi's Housing Board flat in Serangoon Avenue 2 and his Ang Mo Kio Central stall.
An audit of the accounts revealed the discrepancies.
It turned out that while Looi claimed he sold 4,000 to 5,000 curry puffs a day at $1 each, the figures did not match the statement of accounts for the stall.
He earned nett profits of $138,000 to $236,000 annually in those six years.
But Looi, in his tax returns for those years, declared that, at best, he made only $18,000 in nett, or taxable, profits.
In his 2002 income tax returns, he stated that he made a loss of $37,209 in 2001 when in fact, he made a profit of $145,000.
Urging the court to send a strong message that tax evasion would not be tolerated, Mr Sinnadurai pointed to the substantial amount of taxes which Looi had dodged.
In the six-year period, he under-declared his takings by about $1 million.
In a letter addressed to District Judge Aedit Abdullah, Looi, who was unrepresented, said he was remorseful and had followed the wrong advice from his bookkeeper.
He had been cooperative with the taxman and opened his books to them because he had 'nothing to hide'.
Looi was packed off to jail yesterday, but business hardly stopped at the Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 stall, with customers coming from as far as Sengkang and Yishun for the tasty pastry's famed curry filling and crust.
Signs of a crackdown on hawker tax-cheats came earlier this year, when The Straits Times had reported that about a dozen food businesses were hauled up by the Iras for under-declaring their incomes.
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn No. 198402868E -
He don't really know how to do his accounts. -
he ended up losing more.
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i prefer 1A
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earn so much still wanna evade tax...
i wonder if ppl who earn millions do tat too...
tsk tsk...
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I thought old chang kee curry puff the best?
And he file in 2 times his profit for the year is negative. -
old chang kee standard drop. dunno is it becos too many outlets QC problem.
i like tip top.very spicy. -
I cannot take too spicy curry puff so old chang kee ones just nice for me.Originally posted by Pitot:old chang kee standard drop. dunno is it becos too many outlets QC problem.
i like tip top.very spicy. -
i prefer the older old chang kee.Originally posted by Manager433:I cannot take too spicy curry puff so old chang kee ones just nice for me.
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the sardine one quite spicy.Originally posted by Manager433:I cannot take too spicy curry puff so old chang kee ones just nice for me.