NO TAX RETURNS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20176, 20 February 1940, Page 10

NO TAX RETURNS

THREE MEN FINED PENALTIES UP TO £lO Three men were convicted by Mr. E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday for having failed to furnish to tire Commissioner of Taxes on or before June 1, 1939, a return in the prescribed form setting forth a complete statement of all the assessable income derived by them during the year ended March 31, 1939.

Mr. F. Wrey Nolan appeared for the Commissioner of Taxes ,and Mr. M. R. Maude for each defendant.

“No return has been made by the defendant since 1935,’’ said Mr. Nolan when outlining the charge against Arthur Owen, who was convicted and fined £lO, with costs 10s. Mr. Nolan said that it was not as though Owen had a single business in Gisborne; he was a man of considerable affairs. The taxation inspector had to come to Gisborne eventually to go through all the various years. Mr. Nolan explained that this meant a very material addition to the work of the department. It was not as though Owen had no knowledge of the requirements of the Act. On behalf of Owen, Mr. Maude said that his client’s business was of a complex nature and he had come' to rely on the inspector’s visit each year to check the default assessment. In some coses he had received a refund on the amount he had paid. No notice had been given him that the inspector’s visits had ceased. Frank William Roberts was fined £2 and costs 10s on a similar charge, and Hubert Charles Beech was fined £4, with costs 12s. In each case the defendant was ordered to pay solicitor's costs amounting to £2 2s.