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Tax evasion leads to community service

A Hamilton man has been sentenced to 280 hours of community service after admitting a charge of tax evasion.

The Hamilton District Court found Drew William Cocker guilty of one charge of tax evasion, which included filing of misleading tax return to claim a GST refund.

The Court issued its verdict on May 17, 2013.

Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Group Manager (Investigations & Advice), Patrick Goggin said that Mr Cocker filed false tax returns for a six-month period in March 2012 in his wife’s name, which resulted in a request for a refund of just under $22,000.

“This case is another example whereby someone was caught trying to obtain money to which they were not entitled. IRD regularly reviews GST returns and in this case, we found that Mrs Cocker was unaware of the returns being sent to the Department.

“We contacted Mr Cocker who admitted that he had filed the return in his wife’s name and that he had signed the return,” he said.

Financial pressure

According to Mr Goggin, the defendant had claimed that he was under financial pressure and that he had forgotten of having recently filed a return and received a refund for his company, D C Building Services.

“Mr Crocker said that he was mixed up about his tax return and that of his wife.”

Mr Goggin said that an IRD audit showed that the return filed in Mrs Cocker’s name and the company’s returns for the six-month period could not be reconciled.

“The company was entitled to the GST refund claimed and IRD took appropriate action in this case in which a person’s identity was misused,” he said.

Easy catch

Stating that this case was another example of how easy it would be for IRD to catch those trying to cheat the system, Mr Goggin said, “Even if you make a genuine mistake with your filing or any tax matters, our message is always ‘talk to us first before we have to talk to you.’ That would be in your interest.”

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