The charges relate to around S$15,000 in underpaid GST and excise duty; he faces a maximum fine of around S$300,000
LIM Ah Poh, the founder and owner of the Motorway group of companies, is facing charges relating to around S$15,000 in underpaid goods and services tax and excise duty.
More usually known as Michael Lim, the 61-year-old faces a charge of fraudulently evading excise duty and another of evading GST; he faces combined penalties of up to around S$300,000.
Both charges involve a single Toyota Alphard multi-purpose vehicle on Nov 24, 2023.
Lim is alleged to have engaged in a conspiracy with two individuals, Hiroshi Matsumoto and Chua Lai Fang, to avoid taxes on the vehicle by under-declaring its import value.
By doing that, the paid excise on the vehicle was S$10,743.60, against the actual value of S$20,591.90, making for S$9,848.30 avoided in excise duty.
The GST paid was S$5,156.93, when it should have been S$9,884.11, a difference of S$$4,727.18.
These are offences under sections 128D and 140 of the Customs Act of 1960.
In line with the amounts of tax avoided, Lim faces a fine of between S$5,000 and S$196,966 for evading excise duty, and a fine of between S$5,000 and S$94,543.60 for evading GST.
A court hearing was held on Jul 16, with further mention on Aug 27. Lim is now on bail of S$30,000.
He founded Motorway in 1992. The group now consists of multiple subsidiaries, including Motorway Trading, Motorway SsangYong, Motorway Credit and Lion City Rentals. These subsidiaries are engaged in various automotive sector activities.
The group is an authorised distributor for SsangYong and a dealer for BYD and Koenigsegg.
