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Deliberate and repeat tax evasion results in prison |
MEDIA RELEASE
18 June 2012
Deliberate and repeat tax evasion results in prison
An Auckland based beneficiary whose case was suspended for two years after he fled overseas, has been has been sentenced to one year and ten months in prison after earlier pleading guilty to tax evasion involving just over $170,000.
Chandar Prakash was sentenced in the Auckland District Court today after earlier admitting one representative charge under the Tax Administration Act of deliberately evading the assessment and payment of tax between 2001 and 2006.
Prakash travelled to Fiji in 2009, one month before his scheduled court hearing, and did not return until 2011. He was arrested over a month later after failing to notify his legal counsel or Inland Revenue that he was back in the country so that court proceedings could resume.
Acting Group Manager Assurance, Graham Tubb, said that Prakash’s absence led to increased costs to Inland Revenue.
“This is a case of very serious, deliberate and repeat offending. Prakash deregistered for GST in 1996 while working as a courier driver but did not re-register when he started working as an architectural draftsman in April 2001. He ceased filing Income Tax returns in 2000 and did not return any GST owed to Inland Revenue even though he charged GST when invoicing clients of his architectural practice.”
Mr Tubb said that Prakash’s deception was clear when he obtained finance to purchase two Auckland properties in 2006, each valued over $430,000, and a car worth $80,000 in 2007.
Prakash was declared bankrupt in 2009. The total debt written off by Inland Revenue, including penalties and interest and unrecovered Student Loans debt, is just over $1 million.
“New Zealand’s tax system is based on voluntary compliance and it works well because the majority of people understand the importance of doing the right thing.
“Prakash has over ten years of business experience and is fully aware of his tax filing and record keeping obligations. Inland Revenue has attempted to assist with his tax affairs, yet he continued to be non-compliant and refused to provide documentation with the intention of not paying tax.
“As a result of his actions, Prakash has ended up in court, and this sentence shows that Inland Revenue and the courts view his offending seriously,” Mr Tubb said.
For further information:
David G. Miller
(04) 890 1743
(029) 890 1743
david.miller@ird.govt.nz
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