Christchurch bar and brewery owner Hayden George Jones has been sentenced to six months home detention and community work for not passing on his staff’s tax deductions for 4 years.
Jones was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court today on representative charges involving seven of his companies. He was ordered to pay $205,000 in reparations immediately.
Inland Revenue spokesperson Karen Whitiskie says between December 2010 and June 2014, Jones didn’t hand over $381,325 in PAYE deductions.
“This sort of offending is a threat to the integrity of the tax system. It wasn’t a temporary slip. It was premeditated and prolonged. He deducted the money from his staff’s wages but didn’t pass it on to IR,” Karen Whitiskie says.
“Jones isn’t a newbie in the business world – he’s been the director of 34 companies since 1997. He was a registered director of each of the companies involved in this case and a signatory on the bank account of each. He could have fixed this, but chose not to.
“It’s also not his first time before the courts. Back in 2014 Jones was convicted of four offences of failing to file financial statements under the Financial Reporting Act and fined $35,000.
“Jones’ sentencing today should serve as a deterrent to anyone else thinking of holding on to their staff’s PAYE deductions. He’s being held to account and will now do 200 hours community work as well as home detention and reparations.”
The maximum penalty on each of the seven charges is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $50,000, or both.
Media contact: Gay Cavill 04 8901698