AN Albury man has been fined more than $29,000 for failing to lodge GST returns from 2005 until last year.
Scott Anthony King pleaded guilty in Albury Local Court yesterday to 27 charges of failing to provide information to the tax office when required.
Magistrate Megan Greenwood was told the returns were from September, 2005, until March 31 last year.
Returns to June 2009 were received by the tax office by email on Monday night.
King, 45, of Finch Court, Albury, faced maximum penalties of $2200 for the first offence and $4400 for each other; a possible total of $116,660.
Solicitor Tim Hemsley, for King, produced a doctor’s certificate showing he had been on medication since 2009 and said all the forms had now been forwarded and King had hired someone to look after his books.
Mr Hemsley suggested the appropriate penalty was $14,800, “a substantial amount of money”.
But Ms Greenwood said King had failed to comply for a long time and, while he had no previous convictions, deterrence was an important issue.
“These laws must be complied with,” Ms Greenwood said.
King was fined $550 for the first offence and $1100 each for the rest, a total of $29,150.