Wah, big boss style hor. You go KTV or nightclub, see chiobu singer on stage, hands itchy want to act big shot, so you buy those expensive “flower garlands” to put on her neck. Think is just normal show support right?

Eh, wait long long. Those garlands don’t come cheap one. Some cost fifty bucks, but the high-end ones can go all the way up to a jaw-dropping $100,000! Imagine hanging a downpayment for a BTO flat around someone’s neck just like that. Sibeh power, right?

The real drama isn’t on the stage, though—it’s behind the scenes with the towkays. Seeing so much cash rolling in from these flower power sales, some smart-aleck nightclub bosses decided they want to play punk with the tax man. They thought, “Aiya, cash transaction don’t key into cash register lah,” or “Just hide the revenue from the accountants, shift the money to some shell companies, IRAS blur sotong won’t notice one!”

Hello, brother! You think Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) stay Ulu Pandan and sleep ah?

IRAS tax inspectors don’t play play. They went down to check and found out these clever operators tried to dodge Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the full value of the flower garlands, not just the small cut the club kept. Some bosses even tried to blur-blur skip paying the 15 per cent withholding tax for foreign performers too.

The result? Since 2021, IRAS has ruthlessly hunted down and chopped eight errant nightclubs, squeezing out a whopping $6.8 million in back taxes and heavy penalties.

Some bosses kana caught liao still cannot escape. Back in 2021, a club operator in Rochor told his staff to hide cash flower sales, end up kena fined, kena penalty of nearly $340,000, and kena go inside Changi prison for three weeks. Another operator in 2022 used shell companies to play hide-and-seek with the revenue, and also kena jail plus a massive $630,000 penalty.

So moral of the story is simple: Next time you go nightclub and want to throw money buy flower garland, go ahead, Shiok max. But for the towkays, better pay your taxes properly. Don’t think you can flower-garland your way out of IRAS enforcement—because when they catch you, your face confirm turn paler than white lotus already!