The former boss of a Dannevirke shearing gang has been sentenced to 12 months home detention and 300 hours community work for tax evasion.
Erina Akanihi Hauiti was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court on July 26. She set up and ran the business from 2008 until 2017 but didn’t pay at least $361,568 in income, GST or PAYE.
In sentencing Hauiti, Judge Jonathan Krebs said it was impossible to know the true size of the tax evasion and he accepted the situation got too big and hard for Hauiti to deal with.
Judge Krebs says the tax system relies on the honesty of taxpayers. He said tax evasion is not a victimless crime as the victim is the whole population of New Zealand and the loss to the community from this offending was significant.