Made No Tax Return For Four Years

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 647, 26 April 1929, Page 1

Made No Tax Return For Four Years

COSTLY OMISSION CARELESS MAN’S LAPSE Having failed to furnish Income tax returns since 1919, Percy Douglas Jones pleaded guilty on four charges at the Police Court this morning and was fined £lO on each. Costs were 10s and solicitor’s fee £2 2s on each. ■jVf R. V. N. HUBBLE, who prosecuted, ill said that the four charges referred to the years 1924, 25, 26 and 27, though no returns had been put in since 1919, and the amount of tax over the whole period would have been in the neighbourhood of £3OO. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.: He will have to make that good, as well as paying a penalty. Mr. Hubble assured the magistrate that he did not like to use the term, “pressing for a penalty.” That was a question the department left entirely to the discretion of the court. Mr. Johnson described Jones as careless. He was a man with but little education and his work lay outside the business. His knowledge of the books was slight. Also he was permitted to draw only a part of his income, the rest being put to his credit. During the year when Mr. Hubble had cited his income as £l,lOO, for example, it was really much less. Mr. Hubble: He drew at least £6OO. In the opinion of the prosecutor, if sufficient penalty were not imposed, many firms might think it worth while to “give it a go” for the saving of about £SO a year.