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Restaurant illegally charged diners GST
A BRAZILIAN restaurant and its director were fined $92,000 each yesterday for adding the 7per cent goods and services tax (GST) to customers' bills despite not being registered to do so.
Casa Do Churrasco in East Coast Road was found to have wrongfully collected $11,248.
Director Fabiane Mendes Braga, 35, pleaded guilty to 92 charges on behalf of the eatery and herself. A further 191 charges were taken into consideration by the judge for sentencing.
This is the second time the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) has brought an offender to court for unauthorised GST collection. The first time was in 1996. All businesses are required to register with Iras before charging and collecting GST.
Acting on a tip-off, Iras officers visited Casa Do Churrasco in October last year and seized business records and sales receipts dating from December 2008, which showed customers had been charged GST.
Asking for his client to be spared jail, defence counsel Kelvin Lee said that Braga, a Brazilian national and permanent resident here, was the 'front person' at the restaurant because of her looks and personality.
He said her business partner, who has now left the country, was managing the business.
Offenders can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three years, or both, for each offence of unauthorised GST collection.
The public can check whether a business is registered for GST at Iras' website (www.iras.gov.sg ) or by texting 9116-4900.
A BRAZILIAN restaurant and its director were fined $92,000 each yesterday for adding the 7per cent goods and services tax (GST) to customers' bills despite not being registered to do so.
Casa Do Churrasco in East Coast Road was found to have wrongfully collected $11,248.
Director Fabiane Mendes Braga, 35, pleaded guilty to 92 charges on behalf of the eatery and herself. A further 191 charges were taken into consideration by the judge for sentencing.
This is the second time the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) has brought an offender to court for unauthorised GST collection. The first time was in 1996. All businesses are required to register with Iras before charging and collecting GST.
Acting on a tip-off, Iras officers visited Casa Do Churrasco in October last year and seized business records and sales receipts dating from December 2008, which showed customers had been charged GST.
Asking for his client to be spared jail, defence counsel Kelvin Lee said that Braga, a Brazilian national and permanent resident here, was the 'front person' at the restaurant because of her looks and personality.
He said her business partner, who has now left the country, was managing the business.
Offenders can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three years, or both, for each offence of unauthorised GST collection.
The public can check whether a business is registered for GST at Iras' website (www.iras.gov.sg ) or by texting 9116-4900.
