SINGAPORE — A kidney specialist has been ordered to pay penalties totalling over S$1.7 million and a fine of S$21,000 after being found guilty of tax offences.

A media release from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) on Friday (Aug 30) stated that Dr Lye Wai Choong — who is the director of the Centre for Kidney Diseases at Lucky Plaza — was found guilty of making incorrect returns to the tax authority.

Lye was found guilty of two offences under the Income Tax Act and four offences under the Goods and Services Tax Act.

His centre was found to have failed to declare Goods and Services Tax (GST) of S$419,426 in its GST returns for 12 quarters between 2011 and 2013.

Investigations revealed that Lye abetted the centre in making incorrect tax returns. Patients had made their payment directly to Lye’s personal bank account, rather than to the centre, court documents stated.

As a result, these payments did not appear in the centre’s books nor income tax returns to the authorities from 2012 to 2014 — resulting in an understatement of income of about S$5.99 million in the centre’s income tax returns. This meant about S$1.02 million of income tax was undercharged, the court documents stated.

Investigations by the Iras revealed that Lye left the handling of financial matters to his staff without supervision on his part.

For the two Income Tax Act offences, Lye was ordered by the court to pay a penalty of S$1,389,708 and a fine of S$7,000.

For the four GST Act offences, Lye was ordered by the court to pay a penalty of S$404,919 and a fine of S$14,000 on those four charges.

In a reminder to the public, the Iras said that any business that gives incorrect information in its tax returns without reasonable excuse may be liable to a penalty that is twice the amount of tax undercharged.

It added: “A fine and/or a jail term may also be imposed. Any director of the business or any person who abets such offence may also be liable for the offence.”

The tax authority also said that a reward based on 15 per cent of the tax recovered, capped at S$100,000, will be given to informants if the information leads to the recovery of tax that would have otherwise been lost.

“All payments are at the discretion of the Comptroller. Iras will ensure that the identities of informants are kept strictly confidential,” said the Iras.