Man jailed and fined S$1.4 million for urging son to evade taxes on luxury watch business

A 61-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 months in jail and ordered to pay more than S$1.4 million after directing his son to evade taxes on a pre-owned luxury watch business.

Pang Chuan Wah was involved in operating KB Luxury Watch and Jewellery, although the business was registered as his son’s sole proprietorship. Pang managed and directed its operations and tax matters, prosecutors said.

For the 2018 to 2020 assessment years, Pang instructed his son to provide false information in individual income tax returns. He supplied understated income figures for the business, leading to more than S$350,000 in income tax being undercharged.

Pang also directed his son to conceal the business’s obligation to register for Goods and Services Tax. The son was instructed to report sales of about S$920,000, below the S$1 million GST threshold, even though actual sales exceeded S$10 million. That resulted in more than S$100,000 in GST being undercharged between June 1, 2017, and Dec 30, 2018. Pang later directed a false entry in a GST F5 return, causing more than S$15,000 in additional GST to be undercharged.

The case is the first prosecution involving a business in Singapore’s pre-owned luxury watch industry. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore said it takes tax evasion seriously and warned that offenders can face penalties of up to four times the tax evaded, as well as imprisonment. Its annual report said the authority recovered about S$589 million in taxes and penalties in the 2025/26 financial year.

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IRAS takes a serious view of non-compliance and tax evasion. There will be severe penalties for those who wilfully evade tax.