Whangārei boss pleads guilty to unpaid taxes of almost $150,000 in worker deductions

The Whangārei man chose not to pay employees' PAYE for almost three years. Photo / NZME

A man in control of the finances of three companies has admitted not paying almost $150,000 of their employees’ tax contributions.

William Robert Eskdale, the key figure behind Eskdale Freight Limited, Fleetbuild Limited and Three Tens Limited, has pleaded guilty to 28 charges filed by Inland Revenue under the Tax Administration Act.

The Tikipunga man, who was charged in 2020 with 45 counts of tax evasion, pleaded not guilty and elected a trial by jury.

That trial was due to start this week in the Whangārei District Court before Judge Gene Tomlinson, however, on the morning of the scheduled start date and after Crown negotiations, Eskdale pleaded guilty to 28 charges.

The charges primarily revolve around Eskdale’s role in aiding and abetting those entities to commit offences involving the misapplication of tax deductions and withholding tax.

Between 2013 and 2016, Eskdale aided and abetted the companies in wrongfully deducting Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax, KiwiSaver contributions, student loan deductions and employer superannuation contributions from their employees’ wages.

Eskdale was identified as the controlling person responsible for the companies’ finances, specifically their PAYE compliance, and played a central role in the decisions not to remit PAYE to the Inland Revenue Commissioner during the relevant periods.

It was discovered Eskdale failed to remit core PAYE of $146,695 to the commissioner during 28 monthly tax periods.

On 15 of the due dates, the companies had enough money in their bank accounts to pay the PAYE due but failed to do so.

Eskdale Freight, Fleetbuild and Three Tens not only neglected to pay the required PAYE to the commissioner but also made minimal efforts to reduce the outstanding debt. The relatively small reduction of $13,298 was attributed to voluntary contributions, credit transfers and miscellaneous transactions.

The employees of the three companies who should have received credit for PAYE and KiwiSaver deductions, suffered losses as the employers failed to transfer these amounts to IRD, leading to financial hardship.

The maximum penalties Eskdale is facing is five years’ imprisonment, a $50,000 fine or both.

He will be sentenced on March 15, 2024.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.