FINES TOTAL £325

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 70, 23 March 1945, Page 6

FINES TOTAL £325

THAMES WINEMAKER SALES TAX ACT BREACHES Fines totalling £325 were imposed on Joe Ah Chan, winemaker, of Totara, Thames (Mr. Jensen) by Mr. F. H. Levien, S.M., this morning, when Ah Chan pleaded guilty to four charges of breacnes of the Sales Tax Act. The charges were in respect of erroneous returns of the sales of wine in the months of August, 1942, December. 1943, and January and April, 1944. Mr. Rosen, who prosecuted for the Collector of Sales Tax, stated that defendant was in business at Thames as a wine grower and wholesaler. Investigation had shown that proper records were not maintained. The various members of defendant's family all assisted in the business, with the result that there were mistakes and omissions jn the returns of wine sold. Consequent upon this there had been a discrepancy of £296 between the sales tax paid and the sales tax payable for the four months mentioned in the charges. Counsel for defendant stated that defendant and his family worked very hard and maintained a shop and a market garden as well as the vineyard. The production of grapes for sale was actually the main business, and only the surplus was used for wine making. Neither the parents nor the children had had any proper business training, and with two or three of them taking part in transactions records had become chaotic. The magistrate imposed a fine of £100 on the first charge and £75 on each of the other three. Four alternate charges of intent to defraud were withdrawn.