William Eskdale failed to pay almost $150K of employee's taxes. Photo / supplied
William Eskdale failed to pay almost $150K of employee's taxes. Photo / supplied
When a business owner chose not to pay taxes for his three businesses over three years it was his employees who took the hit losing out on their Kiwisaver, superannuation contributions and student loan deductions.
William Robert Eskdale, the key figure behind Eskdale Freight Limited, Fleetbuild Limited and Three Tens Limited, was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court this week before Judge John McDonald for his role in tax evasion.
Eskdale was originally charged in 2020 with 45 counts of tax evasion, pleaded not guilty and elected a trial by jury.
However, on the morning of the trial in November 2023, Eskdale pleaded guilty to 28 charges filed by Inland Revenue under the Tax Administration Act in November 2023. The charges primarily revolved around Eskdale’s role in aiding and abetting those entities to commit offences involving the misapplication of tax deductions and withholding tax.
Since the offending, the court heard Eskdale has lost his home, his parents home, his partner, visitation with his child briefly and declared himself bankrupt.
Between 2013 and 2016, he 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 responsible for the family business 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 Eskdale chose not to.
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 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.
Since the offending, Eskdale lost his home, his parents home, his partner, visitation with his child briefly and declared himself bankrupt.
At his sentencing, Eskdale applied for a discharge without conviction, which the Crown strongly opposed.
“There is a level of trust in the community that the tax system relies on honesty and integrity and a breach of tax undermines this whole system.
“It cannot be said this is a victimless crime, this impacts all in society as the funds benefit all of New Zealand,” lawyer for the Crown, Danette Cole submitted.
District court Judge John McDonald questioned Eskdales remorse. Photo / File
Eskdale told pre-sentence report writers he was remorseful however Judge John McDonald questioned that.
“Who’s he remorseful to? Himself?”
Lawyer for Eskdale John Moroney said his client became a victim of his own success and the implications of a conviction would impact his current employment and ability to cross international borders.
Moroney also submitted if a discharge without conviction was granted, he would be able to pay $500 per week reparation with $20,000 upfront.
Judge McDonald had doubts Eskdale could be forced to pay reparation when he had been declared bankrupt and did not accept the consequences outweighed the gravity of the offending
“If you’re old enough to get into business, you’re old enough to take on the other side of the coin and accept the consequences.”
Eskdale was sentenced to 100 hours of community work and four months of community detention.
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.
