David Clark
Revenue Spokesperson

14 November 2014

IRD joins Corrections in Phillip Smith failure

It is incomprehensible that IRD and Corrections were not able to stop Phillip Smith from rorting the tax system out of $50,000 until it was too late, given that he was a notoriously manipulative prisoner stuck in jail, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson David Clark.

“It defies belief that an extremely manipulative convicted murderer and paedophile was able to rip off the taxpayer by $50,000 from behind bars.

“That is money that will never be seen again. At the very least Corrections should have kept an eye on claims made by any of Smith’s aliases and known what he was up to.

“IRD should be working with Corrections to ensure that known criminals are not ripping off taxpayers.

“If Phillip Smith was able to do this, how many other prisoners have been milking Working for Families and Income Tax?

“Peter Dunne was Revenue Minister for almost ten years. Surely he should have put something in place to monitor prisoners’ tax claims.

“The Government’s priorities are completely out of whack. It said this week it is chasing up loopholes on payments for aged care. It is gobsmacking that the Department is treating families like criminals. It should at least start with treating criminals like criminals,” David Clark says.

ENDS

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