A beauty salon owner has been fined of S$21,800 for evading the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on S$270,000 worth of beauty products. She will be subject to 14 weeks' jail if she is unable to pay the fine.

Ms Melati Abu Bakar pleaded guilty on Thursday to six charges of fraudulent evasion of GST for the goods imported between January 2012 and April this year.

The 41-year-old owner of Melati Pesona Beauty had under-declared the values of the beauty products in bogus invoices submitted in the applications for 27 import permits. The under-declaration resulted in a shortfall GST payment of S$11,325.

Fraudulent evasion of GST on the importation of goods is a serious offence under the Customs Act. Anyone found guilty will be liable to a fine up to 20 times the amount of tax evaded and/or be jailed for up to two years.