Tax Evasion and GST Penalties: Technical Decision Summary on Suppressed Cash Sales

• Summary of technical decision on suppressed cash sales, GST, and evasion shortfall penalties
• Decision date: 22 November 2023, Issue date: 12 April 2024
• Document is a summary and not official advice or guidance
• Taxpayer involved in fraudulent activity through suppressing cash sales
• Taxpayer under-reported GST and income tax
• Taxpayer ceased taxable activity, another company took over
• Evasion shortfall penalties of 150% applied, reduced for previous behavior by 50%
• Dispute over reassessments and default assessment referred to Tax Counsel Office
• Main issues in dispute: under-reporting cash sales, offsetting costs, GST reassessment, liability for shortfall penalty
• Preliminary issues raised by Taxpayer regarding Commissioner’s authority to issue assessments

Source: taxtechnical.ird.govt.nz

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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