Auckland man sentenced in NZ's first 'zapper' tech tax cheating conviction
123RF
An Auckland man has become the first person in New Zealand to be convicted and sentenced for using electronic equipment to underreport sales and dodge tax.
Gurwinder Singh was sentenced in the Manukau District Court this week to seven months' home detention on tax evasion charges and for possessing electronic sales suppression tools (ESST) to evade the assessment and payment of tax.
IRD said Singh, who runs a pizza outlet in Waiuku, admitted he was hiding income from his tax agent so that he did not have to pay so much tax.
"Singh's offending was planned, calculated and required ongoing financial manipulation," it said in a statement.
Singh also claimed only two staff were employed when there were four.
The total amount of tax avoided was around $200,000, composed of approximately $79,000 in GST, $100,000 in income tax, and $21,000 in PAYE.
ESST technology, also known as "phantomware" and "zappers," connects to point of sale systems to underreport sales and reduce taxable income.
The IRD
has previously warned
of a crackdown and harsh penalties for possessing ESST technology, because it posed a threat to the integrity of the tax system.
Buying, possessing, and using ESST technology was made a criminal offence in 2022, with fines ranging between $5,000 for buying and possession, to $250,000 for using it.
IRD has
received an extra $64 million
in this year's budget to boost tax collection and drive tax compliance.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
38 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Fletcher Building considers sale of its construction division assets
Fletcher Building was considering selling off some assets. (File photo) Photo: supplied Fletcher Building is considering the sale of its construction division assets following a strategic review of the business. The company said it was exploring potential divestment options for its Higgins, Brian Perry Civil and Fletcher Construction Major Projects business units, including the appointment of financial advisers. The company was testing the market, though no decisions had been made to sell, Chief executive Andrew Reding said. "Given the quality and strong recent performance of our construction businesses, and the role they will play in New Zealand's growing infrastructure pipeline, we were not surprised to receive inbound interest for them, which has motivated us to test whether there are attractive divestment options. "We will carefully consider the value of any options presented from this process before deciding whether to move ahead." Last month Fletcher Building announced hundreds of millions of dollars of new restructuring and impairment costs. At an investor day briefing it disclosed estimated losses for the current financial year between $573 million to $781m of significant items which will hit its full-year results to be announced in August. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
38 minutes ago
- RNZ News
'Four years is nothing': Grieving family of Emma-Jane Kupa fight for higher prison sentence
Emma-Jane Kupa, 11, was killed in January. Photo: SUPPLIED The family of a young girl who was killed by a drunk speeding driver high on meth have launched a petition appealing for a higher prison sentence. Mother of five Terina Pineaha, 34, fatally hit 11-year-old Emma-Jane Kupa with her car in January. Emma-Jane was biking to a dairy in Flaxmere, Hawke's Bay with her sister to spend her pocket money when she was killed. On Friday, Pineaha was sentenced to four years and five months in prison in the High Court at Napier. Pineaha previously admitted to a raft of charges including manslaughter, consuming methamphetamine, wilful damage, driving with excess breath alcohol, dangerous driving and failing to stop. Terina Pineaha during an earlier court appearance. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook Emma-Jane's family were devastated Pineaha was not jailed for longer, and some family members walked out of court saying it was "bullshit". Emma-Jane's mother, Shannon Davis, told RNZ the family launched a petition because they felt four years was not enough time to pay for the life of their little girl. "She was taken by a woman who had 29 convictions. "It's pretty much saying it's okay to drink drive, be on meth, be on the wrong side of the road speeding... take a young girl's life and you're only going to get four and a half years," she said. Emma-Jane Kupa was killed on the Chatham Rd crossing in Flaxmere. Photo: SUPPLIED A victim's family can not appeal a sentence, but the Crown can, and the petition was calling for action. "We ask the Crown to appeal this sentence. Emma-Jane's life mattered. Her family is broken, and our community deserves justice. "Please stand with us and demand the sentence be increased to better reflect the seriousness of the crime and protect future tamariki," the petition said. The petition had already gathered more than 2000 signatures. Emma-Jane Kupa's parents, Shannon Davis and George Kupa with photographs of their daughter. Photo: SUPPLIED Davis said they were hopeful there was a case for Pineaha's sentence to be increased. "We want anyone to re-look at it and fight for us. My baby didn't have a voice so I have to be hers. "It should be life for life. Four years is nothing." Davis said the whānau's fight for a higher prison sentence was also for others who had lost loved ones at the hands of a drunk driver. "It's not just for my daughter, it's for all the other young kids that have lost their lives to unreliable people who want to drink and drive. "Hopefully Aotearoa listens, help by signing this petition and raise awareness that it is serious." In May, the court heard how on 30 January, Pineaha was driving to the home of the woman she was convinced was sleeping with her partner when she fatally ploughed into the young girl, who was biking with her sister to the dairy. Just before the crash, Pineaha's car reached estimated speeds of up to 105 kph in a 50 kph zone. Shortly after the car's speed was recorded, she struck the 11-year-old on the Chatham Rd crossing in Flaxmere. Emma-Jane was cycling behind her 15-year-old sister, who was on a scooter, on their way to the dairy on Scott Drive. The impact threw Emma-Jane into the air, before she landed 25 metres away on a grass verge, beside Ron Giorgi Park. Pineaha's borrowed Holden Vectra slid on the wet road over the footpath and grass verge, striking 10 wooden posts on a chain fence before coming to a stop. A pedestrian approaching the crossing just before the crash felt the wind from Pineaha's car as it passed him. Members of the public rushed to Emma-Jane's aid, performing CPR until emergency services arrived. But she could not be revived, and died at the scene from head injuries. Emma-Jane Kupa died from head injuries after being hit by a car. Photo: SUPPLIED Emma-Jane's mother told the court on Friday how the traumatic event would live with them forever, especially her older daughter Saige, who witnessed the whole thing. "The sight and sound of your car striking her sister and watching her body get thrown into the air will be forever etched into her memory. "What gives you the right to take my baby's life? And further, inflict trauma on my other baby Saige?" Shannon Davis said to Pineaha in court. The court heard at the time of the incident, Pineaha was serving a one-year sentence of supervision for possessing methamphetamine and other charges. She was also convicted of possessing methamphetamine in 2018. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Police hope new dedicated shoplifting team will bring relief for frustrated retailers
File photo. Photo: 123RF Police say they hope a new team targeting repeat shoplifters in several central and west Auckland suburbs will bring some assurances to frustrated retailers. The team is looking at retail offending in the areas around Mount Roskill, Mount Albert, Avondale, Point Chevalier and Ponsonby. RNZ has reported on Auckland supermarket staff who have been confronted with aggressive and armed shoplifters - including ones who bring in knives and machetes. In recent months, there's been controversy over a police directive to staff saying it will no longer be investigating allegations of shoplifting below $500, which was later canned and criticised by the Police Commissioner as "confusing and unhelpful". Auckland City West Area Prevention Manager, Inspector Wayne Kitcher, told Morning Report that the new initiative has been successful in its first week - where a couple were charged with stealing more than $250,000 worth of goods. "This is a dedicated team that is solely looking at recidivist retail offenders, and I absolutely appreciate that the retailers out there are very are frustrated with how things are going," he said. "And this is our response to hopefully make them feel a bit better, and know that we are actually targeting these people." He said staff on the team would be looking at CCTV footage after reports of shoplifting. Kitcher said usually the offenders would already be known to police and could be tracked down "relatively quickly". When asked by Morning Report whether some officers on this team would be at supermarkets, Kitcher said this team is specifically responding to following up with offending reported. Kitcher was unable to say whether the initiative will be rolled out across wider Auckland or other centres. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
