Property developer jailed for tax evasion

A Wellington property developer was today jailed for two years for tax evasion involving $356,000.

Lance Christopher James was sentenced in Wellington District Court after he was earlier found guilty on eight charges of evading income tax and admitted a further 11 charges of PAYE evasion, the Inland Revenue Department said.

"This is a clear case of a businessman who knew exactly what his tax obligations were, but deliberately set out to ignore them," said Patrick Goggin, IRD assurance manager, investigations.

"Our tax system relies on the honesty of taxpayers, and when someone isn't paying their share they're taking money from services like schools and hospitals."

Mr Goggin said others who were tempted to cheat on their taxes should take note of the sentence "and be left in no doubt of the very serious consequences if they choose that path".

IRD said James had been self-employed as a company director for a number of property development companies since 1993, and was the sole shareholder and director of most of those companies.

He had repaid some of the money involved in the offending, but $168,000, excluding any penalties or interest, was still outstanding.

- NZPA