Tax cheat gets home detention

A former Kaitaia man has admitted 24 charges of providing false or misleading information to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue.

A former Kaitaia farmer who used his former partner's tax account to file false GST returns to obtain $43,075 has been sentenced to 10 months' home detention.

Bryce William Pawson, formerly from Kaitaia, was sentenced in Palmerston North District Court last month on 29 charges relating to an alleged stud beef cattle breeding business.

He admitted 24 charges of providing false or misleading information to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, two charges of altering a document with intent to obtain a pecuniary advantage by deception, two charges of using an altered document to obtain a pecuniary advantage by deception and accessing a computer system to obtain a pecuniary advantage by deception.

The offending took place between April 2011 and March 2013, when Pawson was farming in Kaitaia.

Inland Revenue group manager Patrick Goggin said Pawson used his former partner's myIR login over a period of two years to file false returns.

He was ordered to pay $26,980 in reparation.

"This is a reminder for people to keep their IRD numbers, tax information, online passwords and all other data safe and private at all times to stop others stealing and using their personal information," Mr Goggin said. People such as Pawson who chose to deliberately cheat the system were taking money from hard-working New Zealanders and misusing funding intended for essential services such as education and healthcare.