Latest news with #InlandRevenue
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Business
- Newsroom
Auckland mayor's top executive liquidating personal firm owing $570k
A company belonging to a key official in Auckland mayor Wayne Brown's office is in liquidation owing $570,000 in tax, with the mayor unaware. Brown's chief of staff Jaswant Sailendra Singh (Jazz) called in the liquidators on June 4, for his property development company Traxx Investments Limited. The first report by liquidators Steven Knov and Kieran Jones, dated June 11, shows Traxx has no assets, and its sole creditor, listed as preferential is Inland Revenue with the sum of $569,739. A spokesman for the mayor said in a statement provided to Newsroom at the weekend that Brown 'has never heard of Traxx Investments nor has he received any advice about Jazz Singh's involvement with this company.' Singh told Newsroom his employer, Auckland Council, was not aware of the liquidation, which he described as 'unrelated altogether' to his work there. He said the existence of his business interest had been declared to the council, but not the liquidation. Asked about the circumstances leading to the liquidation, he said 'I don't plan on talking to you about that.' He said the liquidation was a voluntary thing which his advisors had told him to do. In the liquidators' first report it said 'the liquidators have been advised that the reason for the failure of the company, which led to the appointment of the liquidators, is due to the company having insufficient assets to satisfy its liabilities.' The report said they had yet to receive a claim from Inland Revenue. Singh is the chief of staff in the mayor's office, and technically an Auckland Council staffer. Photo: Auckland Mayor's office The role of chief of staff is the most senior position in the Auckland mayor's office and Singh has travelled overseas on occasions with Brown, and is one of the lead officials in discussions with the government and external entities. For example, one push by Auckland and other councils is to convince the central government to return a share of GST to local government. Singh, previously a solicitor, has held senior management roles at Auckland Council for 14 years, and has been in the mayor's office for most of this term. He was initially the head of Budget and Finance for the mayor, and became chief of staff in June 2024. Previously he had held roles in the council as general manager of procurement, head of risk, and manager of property and commercial legal services. Singh is the sole director, and co-owner of Traxx Development Limited, and Traxx Property Investments Limited, with Companies Office records showing the other shareholder in both as Paul Michael Davies. When Singh was made chief or staff, Brown was full of praise on Facebook: 'I'm pleased to announce that Jazz Singh will be my new chief of staff. 'As well as being a strong family man and a father of six, he's got strong business smarts and will be the first finance person in the role since the formation of the super city. 'Jazz is my current head of finance and budget and has played a key part in my long-term plan. He's well placed to deliver on my manifesto, bring the CCOs into line and stop wasting money! 'I'm glad he's agreed to lead my office's strong and capable team.'
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Anti‑corruption taskforce launched, but what will it actually do?
SFO chief executive Karen Chang said the new taskforce would build intelligence to combat 'insider threats, foreign interference and AI‑enabled fraud'. The taskforce unveiling comes after experts warned the Government about compromised police officers, immigration officials, and private sector employees in ports and airports. Cabinet minister Casey Costello established an expert group in February to advise how government agencies could work better to combat organised crime. The group's first report said New Zealand was 'losing the fight' against organised crime and it urged the Government to take bold steps. The second report, released in May, focused on stopping money flows to organised crime groups here and overseas. The panel called for the banning of cryptocurrency ATMs and cash wages in 'high-risk' industries. The Government announced last week that cryptocurrency ATMs would be banned. The SFO said today that it would work with six agencies on the taskforce. They are Inland Revenue, ACC, Corrections, the Ministry of Social Development, Land Information New Zealand and Sport New Zealand. The SFO would assess the 'fraud and corruption control maturity' of those agencies. The agencies will report on corruption and fraud volumes detected and prevented. In the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, New Zealand ranked first-equal with Denmark and Finland. By this year, it had slipped to fourth place, behind Denmark, Finland and Singapore. The SFO said it would lead the new taskforce and use specialist counter-fraud and enforcement expertise. 'Many of the organisations in this pilot are already proactive members of our Counter-Fraud Centre community,' Chang said. That centre was established to support agencies in building counter-fraud capabilities. Chang said the taskforce would foster more targeted prevention, better detection and stronger enforcement. The pilot will run for six months. In the first phase, from July to September, the taskforce will work with the six agencies to gather data and test 'assessment and reporting' processes. In the second phase, from October to December, it will review the data and prepare a public report and advice to ministers on next steps. 'The taskforce's work will build a clearer intelligence picture of the threats that face our public sector,' Mitchell said. 'This is about taking proactive action to ensure our prevention and response system remains resilient and fit for purpose. 'Every dollar of public funding counts, and preventing the unlawful taking of taxpayer money is something we take very seriously.' Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said the taskforce should help law enforcement to identify risks early. Public Service Minister Judith Collins said the Government intended to maintain New Zealand's reputation as one of the world's least corrupt countries. 'By increasing transparency, identifying risks and encouraging ethical conduct across the public sector, this taskforce will help maintain trust in our institutions.' Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said the taskforce should bolster New Zealand's ability to detect and prevent fraud and corruption in the public sector. John Weekes is a business journalist mostly covering aviation and courts. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts. - Additional reporting by Jared Savage.
1News
5 days ago
- Business
- 1News
Auckland man first in NZ sentenced over possession of tax evasion software
An Auckland man has become the first person in New Zealand to be convicted and sentenced for aiding and abetting his company's possession of electronic tools that helped evade tax assessments and payment. Gurwinder Singh, who ran a pizza outlet called Just Pizza in Waiuku, was sentenced in the Manukau District Court on July 15 to seven months home detention on tax evasion charges and a charge of aiding and abetting his company for possessing electronic sales suppression tools (ESST). As part of an Inland Revenue (IR) investigation, searches were carried out at his home and business. Bank records were also obtained, and during an interview, Singh admitted he was hiding income from his tax agent so he could pay less tax. Ex-employees confirmed the business employed four staff, including Singh, but PAYE returns indicated only two. ADVERTISEMENT IR said Singh's offending was planned, calculated, and required ongoing financial manipulation. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a Wellington house fire, the UK lowers the voting age, and the Obamas joke about divorce rumours. (Source: 1News) "The total GST discrepancy from the offending is $78,777.09; income tax discrepancy is nearly $100,000; and the PAYE discrepancy is $21,337 – a total of just over $198,500." The department said ESST poses a "significant" threat to the integrity of the tax system. "There's no other purpose to ESST other than to facilitate tax evasion or money laundering. They're being used globally to systematically alter point-of-sale data collected to understate or completely conceal revenue to evade tax." The sentencing was the first of its kind since April 2022, when New Zealand introduced laws making it an offence to acquire or possess ESST. The Judge ordered the start date of the sentence to be deferred until August 20 to allow Singh to attend family funerals in Fiji.
Business Recorder
7 days ago
- Business Recorder
FBR empowers DCs, ACs to raid, seize illegal cigarettes
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has empowered provincial officials including deputy commissioner/additional deputy commissioner/ assistant commissioner to conduct raids on cigarettes retail outlets, warehouses and motor vehicles on the roads to seize illicit/smuggled cigarettes. The FBR has issued an SRO 1279(I) 2025 to grant powers of seizure of smuggled/illicit cigarettes to the provincial tax officials including revenue officials. According to the notification, the following officers shall be authorised to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the officers of Inland Revenue under Section 26 and sub-section (1) of section 27 of the said Federal Excise Actin respect of cigarettes in retail outlet, warehouses and motor vehicles on the roads: Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Central Assistant Revenue, or any equivalent designation in any provincial hierarchy of respective Revenue Departments. Illicit cigarettes, raw materials worth Rs648m destroyed The Excise and Taxation Officer, Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer or any officer of Excise and Taxation shall not below be BS-16. The provincial officials would have the authority to seize counterfeited cigarettes or beverages which have been manufactured or produced unlawfully and other dutiable goods on which duty of excise has not been paid. These items would be liable to seizure along with the conveyance, which has been used for the movement, carriage or transportation of such goods. The cigarettes (or beverages) seized for the reasons of counterfeiting shall be liable to outright confiscation and shall be destroyed in the manner prescribed, the FBR added. The provincial officers as authorized shall exercise their respective powers and functions under the following conditions: The officers specified in shall exercise their powers and functions in respect of cigarettes in warehouses and shall exercise their powers and functions in retail outlet selling cigarettes and motor vehicles on the roads. The authorized officers shall seize cigarettes along with the conveyance, which has been used for the movement, carriage, or transportation of the cigarettes, if cigarettes are found without valid tax stamps affixed thereon or the tax stamps affixed on cigarettes are fake. After seizure, the authorized officers shall deposit the cigarettes with the Additional Commissioner (HQ) in the nearest Regional Tax Office for further necessary action as per law. The authorized officers shall report the incident of seizure of cigarettes and deposit thereof, on the Application developed for this purpose by the Federal Board of Revenue, within 48 hours of such deposit. Secretary, implementation and coordination or equivalent in respective Provincial governments or any officer as nominated by the respective Chief Secretary shall receive the reports submitted for onward transmission to the Director General, Intelligence and Investigation. Federal Board of Revenue, the notification added. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Otago Daily Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Christchurch contractor in liquidation owes $2.6m
A Christchurch painting and maintenance contractor has gone into liquidation owing creditors an estimated $2.6 million. The collapse of Phil Clarke & Son Ltd has left staff out of pocket by about $100,000 in wages and holiday pay, while Inland Revenue (IRD) is owed $1.8m. The business was placed into liquidation on July 8 by its shareholder, and Insolvency Matters' Brenton Hunt was appointed as liquidator. In his first report released on Monday, Mr Hunt was told by the director a major customer of the company had been reducing its spending to the point where the business had become uneconomic. IRD assessments had fallen behind. The sole shareholder and director named for the business in the Companies Register is Daniel Clarke. Mr Hunt found the company bank account was in funds of about $35,000 at liquidation, but initial investigations indicated large overdrawn shareholder accounts. Goods or services delivered by the business and yet to be paid for, known as accounts receivable, are estimated to be worth about $200,000 on collection. Plant and equipment estimated to realise $20,000 will be sold. The liquidator will also seek to recover motor vehicles owned by the company, some of which have finance owing on them, estimated to raise about $30,000. However, this still leaves a total estimated shortfall to all creditors of $2,630,000. "The liquidator is undertaking investigations to determine whether there are any claims, and or other assets, that may give rise to additional recoveries for the benefit of creditors." Funds were unlikely to be available for unsecured creditors, although this would depend on the progress of the liquidation, he said. The 21 firms listed as unsecured creditors included building, paint and trade suppliers, ACC, Finance Now and other related business services, while staff details were withheld.
