MEDIA RELEASE

Date: 9 March 2007

Dairy owner in court for cheating on taxes over seven years

Inland Revenue has welcomed the six-month jail sentence imposed on the owner of the Dinsdale Dairy, prosecuted for hiding details of the Dairy's true turnover.

Minesh Kumar Patel, aged 40, ran the Dinsdale Dairy in Dinsdale Road, Hamilton. He had earlier pleaded guilty to 39 charges of wilfully filing false returns for GST, Income Tax, and Family Support, from 1998 to 2004. The total sum of tax evaded was $142,195.

In the Hamilton District Court today (Subs: Friday 9 March) Mr Patel was sentenced to six months jail on each of the 39 charges, to be served concurrently. He was granted leave to apply for home detention.

The court had earlier heard that Mr Patel and his wife set up a partnership in September 1997, and first leased a dairy in Auckland, before buying the Dinsdale Dairy in December 1999. They also bought the Top of The Town Dairy in Te Awamutu in October 2002, selling it in December 2004.

At the first interview with Inland Revenue Mr Patel made a partial disclosure that he had deposited takings from the dairy into his home loan account to reduce his mortgage and that he hadn't declared that income in his tax returns. At a later interview he admitted to the findings of the investigators that he had in fact failed to declare $365,055 from the various dairies' takings in his tax returns from the time he started business in Auckland.

Neil Lewer, of Inland Revenue, said it is a myth that tax fraud is a victimless crime.

"Taxes fund schools, hospitals, roads and other community resources. People who rip off the system are stealing from the community," said Mr Lewer, Hamilton Area Manager Investigations.

The tax system in New Zealand relies on honesty and ethical behaviour from taxpayers.

"When someone evades tax it makes it very difficult for honest businesses to compete." Anyone having trouble paying their tax should contact Inland Revenue, said Mr Lewer. "The first thing you should do is file your returns, even if you can't pay the tax owing. In most cases, we can arrange for you to pay your tax by instalments over a period of time."

ENDS

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