A businessman was convicted of tax evasion today (October 26) at the District Court. He was sentenced to five months' imprisonment and fined $60,000 ($15,000 for each charge).

     The defendant pleaded guilty to four charges of evading tax wilfully with intent, which comprised one count of making a false statement in connection with a claim for a deduction of wages to workers under his business for the year of assessment 2013/14; one count of signing the Employer's Return of his business for the year of assessment 2013/14 without reasonable grounds for believing the same to be true; and two counts of making use of a fraud to assist his wife to evade tax by including wages to fictitious workers as expenses of the wife's business for the years of assessment 2014/15 and 2015/16, thereby reducing its assessable profits, contrary to sections 82(1)(c), (d) and (g) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO) (Cap. 112). The total amount of the false claims of wage expenses was $803,000, and the tax involved was $98,858.

     A spokesman for the Inland Revenue Department 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/Monday, October 26, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:53

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