I just received one today, and I was puzzled by two items. One showed Melbourne Australia, and I had not been there ever since I finished my studies, and I did not do any online purchases. After thinking for a while, I think I remembered that it was for my fitness run in June. The company that charged me was probably an Australian firm, though it was quite surprising.

Another one that puzzled me consisted only of a few letters and many numbers. I had just read an article or heard on BBC that states that credit card fraud takes place every 8 seconds or some other statistics. One woman noticed a charge from India on her credit card statement, so she called the bank up. The first thought she had was that the card was physically stolen. The second thing she did was to call the bank up. It turned out that she was a victim of online credit card fraud. The charge was reversed. This means the merchant who was cheated would have to absorb the loss. They will then pass the costs to the consumer. So consumers are the ones who lose out.

Coming back to my situation, I really could not think of what I had spent on. I decide to call the bank up and had to wait for 15 minutes before they answered my call. After verifying my information, they told me that it was from some government organisation. I told the call operator that I would probably recall it.

True enough, I remembered that I had used my credit card for a donation to one of my favourite charities, the SPCA. It was for tax deduction purposes. With a sigh of relief, I put the statement away. I had also used my credit card to maximise my points.

Sometimes, it does pay to check through receipts as well. I could never understand why my father would scrutinise every item on the grocery bills. Once, he was very upset that they over charged him for a $2.50 item, probably some clothes hangers. He only bought one set, but they charged him two sets. He drove all the way back, probably wasting more money in petrol and parking, just to get that sum back. Well, I had the habit of not checking, but recently, I checked my bill for books, and they charged me the price of two items instead of one. Thankfully, they confirmed that they double charged me, and refunded the money to me. This time round, the price was ten times that of the clothes hangers, so the returns were way better.

In conclusion, just remember to keep your bills and receipts and take note of your expenditure. Check through your statements and receipts carefully to avoid fraudulent charges.

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Some Common Filing Mistakes
1. Declare all income. Winnings from Toto and 4D are not considered income as they are windfalls. I wonder whether this is true or not, but apparently for those who want to cheat on income tax buy winning tickets from people to claim the winnings, and then pay them the winnings, just so that the money becomes legitimate. When I bought oil and gas investments recently, I was asked to declare the money I was using to be free from money laundering. It seems that not just illegal businesses need to do money laundering. Tax evaders have to do that as well.
2. If you are a sole proprietor, it is better that you engage a professional accountant to do your taxes. For hawkers, you can refer to guides in 4 official languages. Remember they come down hard on tax evasion hawkers. Business income is taxable on the sole-proprietor’s name.
3. For rental of homes, do check out what you need to pay. An annual exemption of up to $150,000 is allowed to the NAV of one property, which is occupied by the owner. Any excess above $150,000 is taxable.
4. Royalties are taxable but if yours stem from A local publisher; or A branch in Singapore of a foreign publisher, you will only be taxed on 10% of the gross royalties received if they are received for any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work.
5. If you are a Singaporean citizen or PR, your dividends from local shares need not be filed because the companies will automatically declare for you, unless you are joint account holders. 

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1. Tax Cheats Are Thrill Seekers
They tend to be energetic and impulsive. They love to take risks. I guess people take the kick out of being able to get with something.

2. In Business
He tends to be in investment banking and entrepreneurship. That explains the curry puff hawker, since he runs a sizeable business.

3. Men Tend To Cheat More
Overall, men tend to lie on their tax returns, while women are less likely to cheat because they know the penalties if they are caught. In addition, some men declare the taxes for their wives, so the wives do not handle the taxes. A larger proportion of women stay at home without income compared to men.

4. Educated Women Tend to Cheat More
While women form a smaller percentage, those with degrees tend to cheat more. It could be that with better knowledge, they earn more and hence are more likely to try to reduce their amount of tax payment. Those with lower education may earn less, and hence there is no need to cheat. Or is it due to different values?

5. Self-employed
Self-employed people tend to cheat more, because they are the ones who declare their taxes. Employees have their taxes declared by their employers, hence there are fewer opportunities to cheat. And because of this, they get audited by IRAS more often.

6. High Fliers and The Wealthy
The ones who earn the most have to pay the most. In some countries, they can pay up to 50%. Hence, there is greater incentive to try to reduce the taxes to get away with the exorbitant taxes. You hear about some famous sportspeople moving away to tax havens just to keep more of their money. Again, they get checked more often by IRAS.

7. Show Me The Finger
People who love to show their middle finger or gesticulate rudely while driving are likely to cheat. It’s because they feel offended by other people and society at large, and resort to getting even through such ways. 

Do you fall into any of the above categories? Adapted from an interesting article about the profile of a tax cheat in Psychology Today.

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Dearest, (ST:Can’t even get my name, so scram, you scammer and spammer)
I am Lawrence Tino (jnr), the son of Late Chief Lawrence Tino (ST: Why is ‘late’ capitalised? Do they already know that this person is going to die? And is this person important? Why do we need to know the name?) from Cote divorce (ST:This is Ivory Coast, but it’s known as Côte d’Ivoire (IPA: [?ko?t div’w??r ) and only Divorce is found in some lists of countries with wrong spelling) in West Africa.

I want to use this media (ST:ok, through email, and now I’m giving you’re an opportunity to be featured on my website) to ask for your help in transferring my inheritance into your country. (ST: Already Singapore has taken offence with Brazil naming as a Tax Haven. Now you want my country to be known as a Money Laundering Centre.)

I will be so glad if you can allow and lead me to the right channel (ST: Do I look like someone who knows how to do all these transferring of money?) towards your assistance to my present situation now.

I’m aware that this might sound strange to you (ST:Nope, it is not strange, just funny.) but please, I beg you to will handle this matter with the most urgency. (ST: Alright, I’ll give you the time of the day.)

It is my desire to contact you based on honesty and sincerity (ST: Really?) to assist me in transferring $100000000 (Hundred Million United States Dollars) (ST: Do you think this amount really excites me? With interest accumulating each day, this sum should not be in a rounded-off figure.) which I inherited from my late father Chief Lawrence Tino who was a Gold and Cocoa merchant (ST: Usually you hear of Oil Magnate, Gold Magnate, or Cocoa Magnate, and not the two together, unless this man loves diversification).

My late father died in Abidjan General Hospital (ST: Is there a need to tell me the name? There is such a hospital though.), He was poisoned in one of their business trips (ST: How dramatic) with his business partners who are selfish and jealous of Him (ST: Since when did his father become God?).

Before his death at the General hospital (ST: Why isn’t ‘H’ capitalised?), he told me that he deposited this money in a bank and with an agreement that nobody can withdraw from it until it is being transferred into a foreign partner’s bank account which I shall nominate as his next of kin (ST:If this is possible, that means the money does not come from a legal source. Tell me how similar my name can be to be next-of-kin).

My Uncles (ST: Again, strange to have capital ‘U’) took away everything leaving me with nothing (ST: Well, you still have your Internet access). The whole problem started when they found out that they can not have an access to the money at the bank (ST: Since when the uncles are involved in the business) and I Lawrence (ST: Ok, there’s no need to tell me your name again) refuses (ST: Why switch tenses suddenly?) to sign any paper (ST: Do you want Double A, No Jam Paper instead?) so that they can gain access to the money.

As I am writing you now (ST: How can you write me? I’m not a story.), I am far away from home in fear of my Uncles who are threatening my life (ST: It’s not as if you have a lot of money. What can they gain if they kill you? Your inheritance which you can’t get?).

Though, I have discussed with the bank Director and they have accepted to transfer the money to my choice overseas partner (ST: Ya, so how did you pick me? By spamming?) but the sincerely (ST: the sincerely? Or They sincerely? If it’s just sincerely, there is a choice not to get one) want to hear from my overseas partner before they can effect the transfer.

I am motivated in contacting you (ST: Of course you are motivated. You get to cheat my money) and hope to gradually build trust, relationship and confidence in you as I get to know you better. (ST: Perhaps you will get better luck at some online dating sites.)

Indicate your interest towards assisting me by sending your full names (ST: I’m a law-abiding citizen. I don’t have that many names or aliases to escape from creditors or my victims) and age (ST: This does really sound like some online dating thing), phone and fax number (ST: I don’t have a fax at home, so too bad), home and office contact address (ST: Why do you need so many numbers? Might as well ask for my credit card number or bank account number too. Are you planning to let my boss know how stupid I am to fall for your trick?) to me so that I can communicate with you at any time.

I will also appreciate it if you can send across your photo for a better recognition. (ST: OK, this is a thinly disguised letter for trying to ask me out on a date. Better pick-up line next time.)
I will be waiting to hear from you soon.

Thanks.
Lawrence Tino (ST: Anagrams of his name include: Locate Winner, Trainee Clown, Cleaner In Tow, Trance New Oil. Perhaps it really means, first, locate a big fool, try to make him happy, take him to the cleaners, and then use the money to buy snake oil to trance new big fools)

Email:  personallawrencetino@yahoo.com.hk (ST: So, you managed to escape from Africa to Hong Kong.)

Oh well, Mr Tino, I don’t know how you are going to spend that money, but maybe behind bars.

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