$435,000 tax evader jailed

File photo / Mark Mitchell

Tax evasion totalling $435,000 led to a jail term of two years eight months being imposed on Christchurch company owner Daryl Philip Evans today.

The 48-year-old was sentenced at Christchurch District Court after being convicted of nearly 60 charges brought by the Inland Revenue Department.

The charges related GST, PAYE, and income tax for three companies involved in the air conditioning industry, and to Evans individually. He is now bankrupt.

Defence counsel Catherine Bibbey said Evans had warranty problems with machinery he was supplying causing administrative and financial problems.

IRD prosecutor Paul Saunders said the department sought a starting point of three years six months imprisonment before other factors were taken into account.

Judge Stephen Erber said the offending took place over a three year period, involving $435,000.

"The prospect of recovery is about nil," he said, describing tax evasion as "essentially theft".

The amount involved put the case in line with others where significant terms of imprisonment had been imposed.

He said he could not accept the claim in a letter from Evans that the offending was not planned.

Evans had received a personal benefit because the companies had continued running reasonably smoothly during the offending. "You lived a comfortable life, I think."

"In your letter you say you sincerely regret going into business. Regret and remorse are two different things," said the judge, allowing a 10-month reduction on the jail term for Evans' early guilty pleas.

- NZPA