A man who charged a fee to help other people evade tax after doing the same himself for several years has been sentenced to two years in jail.
Hubert Hays, 62, pleaded guilty to 87 charges of giving false or misleading information to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and two of evading GST.
He was sentenced to two years jail in the Auckland District Court.
IRD assurance group manager Patrick Goggin said Mr Hays filed false returns when he worked as a taxi driver from 2000 to 2007, claiming his expenditure matched or exceeded his income.
He then began preparing and filing false tax returns for other people.
"He also charged a 20 percent fee and instructed clients not to co-operate with Inland Revenue if they were contacted," Mr Goggin said.
Mr Hays also submitted false GST returns when he worked for a bedding company in 2007.
He had evaded nearly $607,000 of taxes, but IRD had stopped some refund payments and received payments from people leaving its total loss at just over $288,000.
NZN