Labour hire boss gets nearly three years' jail for tax evasion

A labour hire company boss, who supplied staff for major construction projects including Auckland's Waterview Tunnel, has been sentenced to nearly three years' imprisonment. Photo / Dean Purcell

The director of a labour hire company has been sentenced to nearly three years' imprisonment.

Ronald Teheretiu Message, also known as Ronnie Message, was sentenced in Manukau District Court yesterday to 32 months' jail on charges relating to more than $2 million in tax evasion, according to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which brought the charges.

Message's company, Message Services Limited, provided labourers for major construction projects including Auckland's Waterview Tunnel and the Victoria Park Tunnel.

Between November 2011 and March 2015, Message filed 39 monthly GST returns. Of these, 11 claimed refunds the company was not entitled to while the remainder were zero returns. On all occasions, the returns should have resulted in GST payments, the IRD said in a statement.

When questioned about the 11 refund returns by IRD investigators, Message said he had simply made up the figures to arrive at a refund position. In total, the company evaded paying $877,471 in GST, the IRD said.

Over a two-year period, the company also failed to pass on nearly $500,000 by withholding tax deducted from income paid to contractors it employed.

Message also did not file personal income tax returns for three years, despite repeated requests to do so, resulting in just over $700,000 in tax being evaded.

"His only defence when questioned was that he had a gambling addiction and that is how he spent the company's money," the IRD statement said.

Its investigations and advice Group Manager Patrick Goggin said Message was an experienced businessman and would definitely have known his obligations as an employer to pay income tax, GST and PAYE deductions.

"Mr Message had a successful business operation working on multi-million dollar infrastructure projects," Goggin said.

"To flout these most basic of employer obligations is completely unacceptable. This sentence should send a clear signal that tax cheaters will be caught and punished."