PHOTO: The victims of the defendant’s actions were the citizens of New Zealand, a judge says. Photo: 123RF
A builder caught evading more than $300,000 in tax that he deducted from his employees’ wages, spent some of the money on Uber Eats and overseas travel.
Christopher Win avoided jailed by a “slim margin” when he appeared in the Christchurch District Court for sentencing today on four charges laid under the Tax Administration Act 1994.
A letter provided to the court from a police officer described the 40-year-old as “always being honest”, but that notion was rejected by a judge who was satisfied Win knew what he was doing was wrong.
“The victims are the citizens of New Zealand … offending of this nature is akin to theft of the taxpayers from this country,” Judge Tony Couch said when sentencing Win on Tuesday.
According to the summary of facts Win was a sole trader, operating under the name Win Building.
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Between November 2017 and September 2019, Win employed eight workers and deducted PAYE from their wages and filed PAYE returns with the Commissioner of the Inland Revenue, accounting for the deductions from employees’ wages.
But for each month within that period except the months May and July 2018, Win did not pay the deducted amounts to the IRD by the due date.
The amount of the assessed PAYE deductions not paid by the due date totalled $226,763. Late payments amounting to $49,958 had reduced the assessed amount to $176,804.
READ MORE VIA RNZ