Irish haulage boss jailed for failing to pay €136,000 in VAT

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The operator of a road haulage business has been sentenced to two years in prison for failing to remit VAT payments of approximately €136,000 between May 2011 and May 2016, as well as his failure to submit VAT and income tax return forms on various dates between 2001 and 2016.

According to the Irish Times, tax inspectors in Ireland found that 58-year-old John Fitzsimons had issued invoices for J Fitz Haulage, which was registered to his home address but had been closed down in 1999. The VAT number on the invoices was also null and void.

Those gathered at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Fitzsimons had also done business under the guises of CGC Associates and M and G Haulage.

It is said that the former company had “indicated a willingness” to pay its tax returns in a letter sent to Revenue.

However, when payment was not forthcoming, Fitzsimons was required to produce documents regarding his personal bank account. Revenue officers then learned the haulage boss had received  €800,000 from a packaging company.

The Irish Times reports that Fitzsimons said he “wouldn’t know how” to complete a tax return form during a meeting at Revenue’s Aston Gate offices three years ago. Revenue staff were told by  Fitzsimons that he was attempting to keep his “head over water” when questioned about the unpaid tax.

In a letter Fitzsimons addressed to the court, he declared his remorse and regret at falling behind with his tax payments.

Nevertheless, given that Revenue considered it unlikely that the haulier would be able to pay back anything close to what was owed, the judge decided that a two-year prison sentence was necessary. The Irish Times writes that the judge said the sentence was “extremely lenient” in his view.


Photo credit: William Murphy / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

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