David John Gower appeared in the Auckland District Court on May 16 and was sentenced to two years and three months behind bars.

He was charged with aiding and abetting AFS Total Fire Protection (AFS) in deducting PAYE, KiwiSaver Employer deductions, student loan employer deductions and child support from employees’ wages – money that was never passed on to IR.

AFS installed and maintained fire and emergency systems and had about 80 employees.

The company currently owes $1 million in unpaid KiwiSaver employer contributions and $40,869 in unpaid employer superannuation contribution tax.  AFS’s workers never got the benefit of that money or any interest on it.

In a statement, the IRD says despite repeated attempts to contact Gower, and various warnings, he kept offending for 17 months after a warning letter in May 2015. In 2016, AFS was placed into liquidation owing $2,645,500 of PAYE debt and $1,373,310 of GST debt.  Inland Revenue had agreed to hold off on liquidation a number of times to allow Gower to repay the money but the repayment plan which he never adhered to.

Gower pleaded guilty to a representative charge, covering 49 tax periods, a week into a jury trial. Before that plea, the jury was told there are some basic rules everyone follows when they choose to run a business – including paying creditors, paying their staff, and paying tax.