A Napier dairy owner has admitted evading almost $200,000 in taxes claiming he didn't know he had to pay - despite the regular IRD warning that ignorance is no defence. In the case of Carlyle St store proprietor and Pakistani immigrant Farrukh Hashmi, 42, that will be December 5,
when he appears in the Napier District Court for sentencing on 37 charges of failing to pay GST and income tax.
He pleaded guilty to all the charges, having told IRD investigators in January: "Where I come from we didn't have to pay tax".
The charges involved taxes of $195,473 on undeclared earnings of $486,797 since 2002 and, if Hashmi meets his hopes of paying it back, plus interest and penalties, the bill is expected to hit $300,000.
He disputes IRD's estimate of earnings.
Hashmi and his family have run the store as a seven-day operation for the last four of their 12 years since arriving from Karachi, but expect his "mistake" will mean they will have to sell-up.
