A Christchurch man was sentenced to more than two years imprisonment for tax evasion totalling nearly $1.4 million.
Daniel Robert Clarke faced 21 charges of aiding and abetting his company, Phil Clarke and Son Limited, for failing to make PAYE payments to Inland Revenue and 15 charges of tax evasion.
Clarke was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court on 25 September to two years and three months in prison.
His property maintenance company worked for rest homes and Clarke took over running it from May 2022 onwards. Before he took over, and for a short time while he was in charge, the company was meetings its tax obligations.
But between January 2023 and June 2025, Phil Clarke & Son Limited deducted PAYE and things like student loan repayments and KiwiSaver contributions from its employees’ wages. On 22 occasions it didn’t pay that money to Inland Revenue as required.
A total of $778,852.25 remains unpaid even though the company had enough money in its bank account to pay the PAYE each time it was due.
Phil Clarke & Son Limited was registered for GST but for 15 GST periods between January 2023 and May 2025 when there was $610,005.31 of GST to pay, no payments were made.
It was a deliberate decision by Clarke to pay creditors and employee wages rather than to pay the GST. Clarke also used the available money towards paying company expenses and transferred money for living expenses and home renovations. When the renovated house was sold, none of the proceeds were used to reduce the amount he owed to Inland Revenue.
From January 2023 to 02 July 2025 Clarke personally gained approximately $1,952,000.00 from the company.
Phil Clarke & Son Limited was put into liquidation on 8 July 2025 by shareholders resolution. Clarke also entered into 9 payment arrangements, all of which defaulted. He was adjudicated bankrupt on 8 April 2026.
The Court was told that the victims in this case are Inland Revenue and the wider community. The unpaid tax is all lost to the tax base and the amount makes that a substantial loss to the community.
Judge Gilbert heard the use of tax money as working capital and as personal income also gave Clarke an unlawful competitive and lifestyle advantage over other taxpayers who paid their tax.
The integrity of the New Zealand tax system relies in large part on voluntary compliance. That in turn relies on all taxpayers being deterred against offending, and compliant taxpayers seeing that those who do not comply do suffer meaningful consequences.