The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has taken a note of businesses not paying their GST on time, and it has decided to take a severe penalty against the offenders. It has been reported that SMEs operating in Singapore refrain from hiring accounting services Singapore, and it keeps them from understanding the intricacy of paying GST on time.

As of now, the authorities at the IRAS has recovered more than $175million GST during the Year of Assessment (YA) January 2019 to September 2019. The accumulation of the outrageous amount is a culmination of more than 2,000 cases noted in the specified time period. However, on further breakdown, it was discovered that nearly 53 cases were scrutinized on the charges of evasion and fraud, and nearly 14 cases have been penalized during a short duration.

 

IRAS issues a final warning against businesses with a high non-compliance risk

In the light of recent tax evasion and GST-related cases, the IRAS have become vigilant, and it is continuously pursuing businesses responsible for not paying GST on time. While businesses can formally request for an extension to pay the GST amount, IRAS is investigating businesses with a high non-compliance risk that doesn’t pay for GST taxes.

Businesses are required to hire the expertise of the best accounting firm in Singapore to prepare and calculate their GST on time, and avoid any potential punishment from the authorities. Furthermore, they should consider opting for secretarial services, payroll services, corporate tax services, and miscellaneous services to keep a strong track of their expenditure and cash inflows/outflows.

IRAS has hired software engineers to develop a top-notch data analytic solution to detect evasion and non-compliance activities in company incorporation businesses based in Singapore. It has given IRAS the leverage to track down high-risk cases in an effective time manner. Any non-compliance business is likely to have poor record-keeping, numerous cash transactions, and weak internal controls, which account for few of the identifiers.

 

Penalties for businesses failing to register for GST

IRAS has issued a final warning for businesses to submit their GST amount on time or, they risk getting penalized for their actions. In the upcoming years, businesses operating in Singapore should expect severity from the IRAS, and they should hire the best accounting firm in Singapore services to deal with the matter internally.

All types of businesses operating in Singapore are eligible to pay the GST, if their annual GST amount surpasses more than $1 million on an annual basis. To avoid the GST, many non-compliance businesses strive to keep the amount below $1million, which puts them at a high risk for penalty.

IRAS has developed comprehensive audits to monitor businesses that aren’t adamant on paying the GST amount. As per the statistics, IRAS is likely to bust more than 100 businesses responsible for committing the offence. As a penalty, they are required to pay $100,000 in GST + penalty to the IRAS.