Radio host and basketball team owner Nick Mills given three weeks to settle tax debts to save his Wellington restaurants

Wellington Saints basketball team owner, restaurateur and Newstalk ZB radio host Nick Mills has been given a final three weeks to satisfy Inland Revenue he can pay his tax debts, or else his companies will be liquidated.

Associate High Court judge Andrew Skelton on Tuesday morning agreed to reconsider Inland Revenue’s application to liquidate some of Mills’ companies on February 25.

One of the companies trades under the name Los Banditos – a Mexican restaurant – and another under the name Wellington Sports Cafe.

Both businesses are on Blair St, off the capital’s main entertainment and nightlife strip, Courtenay Place.

Wellington restauranteur Nick Mills is trying to sell assets to settle his tax debts. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The other two companies Inland Revenue is applying to liquidate operated as businesses that have now closed (Siglo and Boston on Blair), according to Mills’ lawyer, Mike Lennard.

In court, Inland Revenue’s lawyer Deepika Padmanabhan pushed to get the matter wrapped up, arguing it had been “dragging on for a long time”.

She said Inland Revenue had been engaged with Mills since August, but no agreement had been reached, nor a payment received by the tax department.

Lennard asked for more time for Mills to find the cash to reduce his debts. He said Mills had put his personal assets and businesses up for sale, and Mills was under no illusion it could be the end of the road for his other businesses.

Lyall Bay beachside cafe, Spruce Goose, regarded Courtenay Place restaurant, Hummingbird, and Bettys Function House and Bar are among the other businesses Mills owns.

The amount of tax debt in dispute has not been unveiled.

In a statement released last week, Mills said he managed to raise more than 40% of the funds required, but Inland Revenue declined to accept that.

He urged the revenue minister and commissioner for Inland Revenue to “intervene” in what he described as a failed negotiation.

A spokesperson for Inland Revenue responded: “We are conscious of the financial pressures that individuals and businesses may be under and seek to work with all taxpayers who are in debt to find an acceptable way to resolve those debts, while being fair to those who have paid their taxes in full and on time.”

Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.