A Bay of Plenty man has been sentenced to 12 months' home detention and 300 hours' community work after admitting tax evasion offences involving $188,000.
Balbir Singh, a 46-year-old kiwifruit contractor from Opotiki, was sentenced in Tauranga District Court this morning after earlier pleading guilty to 22 tax evasion charges.
The charges relate to Singh's failure to met his PAYE and GST payment obligations between June 2009 and July 2010.
The Crown opposed home detention because Singh was an undischarged bankrupt and taxpayers were unlikely to ever see any reparation.
Judge Peter Rollo said while the estimated loss was substantial, he was satisfied home detention and community work was appropriate.
