Sixty travellers were caught for failing to declare and pay taxes on goods brought into Singapore during a week-long enforcement operation from 22 to 28 September.
The operation was conducted by the Singapore Police Force, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and Singapore Customs across Singapore’s land, air and sea checkpoints.
Separately, seven travellers were detected moving cash above the S$20,000 reporting threshold into Singapore without declaration.
Nearly 13,000 Travellers Checked
According to the authorities, close to 13,000 travellers and 350 vehicles were checked during the operation.
More than 14,000 pieces of luggage and hand-carry bags were also scanned or searched.
The operation was aimed at detecting breaches of Singapore’s cross-border cash reporting regime and other illegal cross-border activities.
For normal people, the takeaway is quite simple: “I forgot” is not a very convincing customs strategy.
Undeclared Goods Included Mooncakes, Birthday Cakes and Luxury Bags
The 60 travellers had failed to declare and pay taxes on items such as cigarettes, tobacco products, liquor exceeding duty-free concessions and goods exceeding Goods and Services Tax import relief.
The total duty and GST evaded came up to S$7,810. Composition sums of S$17,705 were imposed.
The cases included a traveller at Tuas Checkpoint who did not declare multiple packages of mooncakes, two boxes of birthday cakes and a money bouquet. These were meant for commercial purposes.
Another traveller at Changi Airport was found with three undeclared luxury bags for personal use, while another traveller had undeclared jewellery for personal use.
The authorities said all the customs offences were compounded. In simple terms, the offenders settled the cases by paying composition sums instead of being prosecuted in court.
Under Singapore Customs rules, travellers must declare goods if they exceed their duty-free concession or GST import relief, or if the goods are dutiable, taxable, controlled or prohibited.
Singapore Customs also states that travellers unsure whether they need to declare something should use the Red Channel or approach a Customs officer.
7 Travellers Detected With Undeclared Cash
In a separate set of cases, seven travellers were detected bringing cash above the S$20,000 reporting threshold into Singapore without declaration.
On 22 September, a 46-year-old male foreign traveller allegedly tried to bring S$31,000 into Singapore without declaring it.
On 23 September, a 40-year-old female foreign traveller was detected with about S$51,000.
On 27 September, a 44-year-old male foreign traveller was detected with about S$23,800.
On 28 September, four travellers were detected with a total of about S$96,400. They included two 41-year-old male foreign travellers carrying S$30,000 and S$20,400 respectively. A 51-year-old female traveller and a 52-year-old male foreign traveller were also found with about S$46,000 collectively.
Of the seven travellers, two were issued warnings and three were issued composition fines totalling S$13,000.
The remaining two had their cash seized for further investigation.
Cash Above S$20,000 Must Be Declared
Travellers must report the physical movement of cash or bearer negotiable instruments if the total value exceeds S$20,000, or the equivalent in foreign currency.
This declaration must be submitted electronically within 72 hours before entering or leaving Singapore.
Anyone who fails to report, or makes an inaccurate report, for cash movements above the threshold can be fined up to S$50,000, jailed for up to three years, or both. A confiscation order may also be made for part of the cash linked to the offence.
The authorities said ICA will continue using technology and data analytics to strengthen detection at Singapore’s checkpoints.
