An Auckland superyacht interior designer has been sentenced over nearly $1 million in unpaid tax relating to two companies.
Charles Stuart Robinson was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday on 40 charges of aiding and abetting two companies – Robinson Interiors Ltd and Platinum Window Systems Ltd – to take PAYE from staff wages which did not get passed on to Inland Revenue.
Robinson – the sole director and shareholder of the companies – was obligated to deduct PAYE on behalf of employees, file the returns by their due date and pay the deductions from employees to Inland Revenue.
However, an Inland Revenue investigation found that Robinson Interiors failed to pay any of the $688,563.44 due as PAYE between August 2018 and February 2021. From February 2019 until February 2021, a further $217,293.41 in PAYE from Platinum Window Systems went unpaid.
An analysis of Robinson’s bank accounts showed that the money instead went to trade creditors and funds were transferred between companies, Inland Revenue said. He also paid more than $122,000 to his bank account to go towards private school fees, rental payments, and shopping at Louis Vuitton.
Robinson was also found to have claimed more than $250,000 from Covid-19 relief schemes, including the Small Business Cashflow Scheme. The money had not been repaid.
In May 2022, Robinson was adjudged bankrupt and both companies were placed in voluntary liquidation.
The total assessed PAYE not paid by the due dates was $905,856.85.
During sentencing, the judge said there was “nothing more corrosive to a society than an individual earning high levels of income and avoiding tax”.
Robinson was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention – just one month short of the maximum period allowed – and ordered to pay $250,000 in reparations towards unpaid tax.