PRESS RELEASE

Businessman convicted of omitting company turnover and property rental income 

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      A businessman was convicted today (October 7) at the District Court of evading tax. Sentencing was adjourned to October 21. The defendant was remanded in custody.

      The defendant, aged 61, was charged with 15 counts of evading tax, wilfully with intent, by omitting turnover of his sole-proprietorship business from his tax returns for the years of assessment 2002-03 to 2013-14 and rental income of his parking space from his tax returns for the years of assessment 2011-12 to 2013-14, contrary to section 82(1)(a) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO) (Cap. 112). The defendant pleaded not guilty to the relevant charges. After trial, he was convicted today on all of the 15 tax evasion charges.

      The court heard that the defendant was the proprietor of a company (the Company). The Company and a publisher collaborated on the publication of a watch magazine whereby the Company was responsible for soliciting clients for advertisements and was entitled to 40 per cent of the total advertising revenue. An investigation by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) revealed that during the period from August 2002 to March 2014, a total of 53 issues of the watch magazine were published from which the Company was entitled to advertising revenue of $11,363,268. The defendant only reported a total turnover of $4,936,442 for the Company in his tax returns for the years of assessment 2002-03 to 2013-14. The total amount of turnover omitted was $6,426,823 and the tax evaded was $819,437.

      In addition, the defendant declared in his tax returns for the years of assessment 2011-12 to 2013-14 that he did not have any solely owned properties which were let during the years. The IRD later found that the defendant let his solely owned parking space during the three years of assessment. The total amount of rental income omitted was $40,167 and the tax evaded was $3,344.

      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/Friday, October 7, 2022 
Issued at HKT 14:55 

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