A 49 year-old Wilmslow man who pocketed nearly £115,000 tax which he had deducted from sub-contractors' instead of paying it to HM Revenue and Customs has been jailed.
Peter Jones from Central Place, Station Road, Wilmslow was registered under HMRC's Construction Industry Scheme as PJD Cheshire Builders, employing sub-contractors for work carried out on renovations and property development. When he de-registered, HMRC's investigations revealed that he had continued to employ sub-contractors for five and a half years but failed to pay HMRC the tax deducted from them.
Mr Jones was sentenced to 24 months, reduced by a third for the early guilty plea to 16 months in custody when he appeared at Manchester Crown Court last week. He was charged on nine counts with obtaining money by deception, including false representation contrary to sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Fraud Act 2006 and pleaded guilty on 25th April at Manchester Crown Court.
Sandra Smith, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation, HMRC, said: "Jones abused his position when he failed to pay tax that was due in an attempt to line his own pockets. HMRC takes tax fraud extremely seriously and anyone deliberately choosing to evade the taxes they owe should expect not only a heavy fine, but possibly a criminal prosecution as well.
"If you have information about people who may be involved in tax fraud you can contact the Tax Evasion Hotline on 0800 788 887."
