Couple behind livestreaming retailer fined over $800k for evading GST

A Singaporean couple running a livestreaming business selling branded goods from overseas underdeclared product values, evading over $90,000 in Goods and Services Tax (GST) and $4,000 in freight charges.

Wang Siew Ching, 34, and her husband Rayson Loo Sian Hao, 33, were convicted and fined $396,000 and $453,000 respectively on Tuesday (Oct 15), totalling $849,000.

The couple run fashion retailer business Vanity Closet, where Wang is a company director and Loo is a manager.

Singapore Customs said in a media release that Wang would source and promote branded goods via Facebook livestreams while Loo would arrange the shipments to Singapore.

In January 2022, Customs conducted checks on Vanity Closet's shipments imported in 2021 and found discrepancies between the actual values of the goods and the values declared.

Investigations revealed that the couple and their employees would conduct sales livestreams at retail outlets selling branded goods in the US and the UK. Goods ordered by customers will be purchased at the end of the session and shipped to Singapore by air.

Loo created invoices with values "much lower" than the actual values and submitted them to freight forwarders, who declared the suppressed values to Customs.

This led to GST underpayments and non-payment in cases where the declared values were less than $400. Imported goods valued at $400 or below are not subject to GST.

Of the 49 shipments that Vanity Closet imported into Singapore between August 2021 and January 2023, 24 were declared with suppressed values and did not include freight costs.

For the remaining 25 shipments, the freight costs were omitted in the import values declared, said Customs.

On Tuesday, Wang and Loo each pleaded guilty to 11 charges of fraudulent evasion of GST amounting to $67,810.

Another 13 charges of fraudulent evasion of GST amounting to about $24,105 and 25 charges of causing incorrect declarations to be made, by not including the freight charges amounting to about $4,172 in the import declarations, were taken into consideration.

Any person who fraudulently evades or attempts to evade any duty or GST can face a fine of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, or a jail term of up to two years, or both.

Any person who makes untrue, incorrect or incomplete declarations can face a fine not exceeding $10,000, or the equivalent of the amount of the duties or tax payable, whichever is greater. They may also face a jail term of up to 12 months, or both.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com