PRESS RELEASE

(Source : Information Services Department)

Suspended jail sentence for taxpayer convicted of false claims for additional dependent grandparent and additional dependent parent allowances

******************************************************************************************************

     A taxpayer was convicted today (November 26) at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on nine charges of evading salaries tax. She was sentenced to two months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.

    The defendant, aged 41, pleaded guilty to nine counts of wilfully and intentionally evading tax by making false statements in connection with claims for additional dependent grandparent allowance (ADGA) and additional dependent parent allowance (ADPA) for the years of assessment 2003-04 to 2009-10 and 2008-09 to 2009-10 respectively, contrary to section 82(1)(c) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap.112) (IRO).

    The court heard that the defendant made false statements in her tax returns for the years of assessment 2003-04 to 2007-08 and 2009-10 and two Forms IR687 for the year of assessment 2008-09. She falsely declared that during each of (i) the seven years 2003-04 to 2009-10, her grandmother resided with her continuously for each full year; and (ii) that during the two years 2008-09 and 2009-10, her parents resided with her continuously for each full year.

    An investigation by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) revealed that the defendant's grandmother had resided in New York for years, and that the defendant herself resided at a leased property in Wan Chai for the years of assessment 2008-09 and 2009-10. Records from the Hong Kong Immigration Department showed that there had been no movement records for the defendant's grandmother since July 1, 2002. The defendant had neither resided with her grandparent continuously for a full year during the years of assessment 2003-04 to 2009-10, nor resided with her parents continuously for any of the years 2008-09 and 2009-10. The total of the defendant's false claims of ADGA and ADPA for the seven years was $330,000 and the total tax involved was $57,066.

    A spokesman for the IRD reminded taxpayers that tax evasion is a criminal offence under the IRO. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for each charge is three years' imprisonment and a fine of $50,000 plus a further fine of three times the amount of tax evaded.

Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:20

NNNN