Serial tax fraudster jailed for more than two years

Mathew Raymond Phillips. Photo / Police

A serial fraudster has been sentenced to more than two years jail for a "repeated, persistent" and complex tax fraud totalling $143,000.

Mathew Raymond Phillips ripped off the Inland Revenue Department over a period of six years and while he was serving a community-based sentence for similar offending.

Judge Simon Menzies said the 46-year-old Hamilton man's dishonesty was premeditated and significantly serious.

In his latest offering Phillips faced 22 dishonesty charges over the tax fraud and two charges related to a burglary and theft.

During the six-year period of the most recent offending, Phillips filed 16 fraudulent GST returns and six fraudulent income tax returns in his name and the name of his company.

The returns included invented income and expenditure.

Phillips used and created documents to give the appearance of a taxable activity when there was none.

He further used, created and modified documents enabling him to claim fictitious GST expenditure to obtain fraudulent GST and income tax refunds, the summary of facts said.

The offending netted Phillips $76,341 of GST refunds, $50,679 of income tax refunds, and attempting to receive an additional refund of $5371.

It also meant he evaded paying the IRD more than $10,300 of GST and $522 of income tax.

The total offending was $143,243 and the loss to the IRD commissioner was $137,871.

Menzies gave Phillips credit for repaying the entire amount after selling his only asset, a property, but said Phillips appeared to have been motivated by greed, using the money to buy expensive cars.

The judge said Phillips could not be given a sentence of home detention when he handed down the two years and two months jail time because of the extent of the offending.

The jail term included a sentence for burglary and theft after Phillips stole washing from his neighbour's clothesline and a $3000-plus tool belt from the same neighbour.