Suspended sentence for attempted tax fraud

Birmingham Crown Court

A Birmingham factory worker who tried to reclaim more than £60,000 of tax he never paid, has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Chris McGrath, of Heath Way, Castle Bromwich, submitted Self-Assessment tax returns between 2013 and 2016 claiming he’d paid too much tax and was due repayments, a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation revealed.

He altered his salary levels and the tax he had paid on eight different occasions to try and steal £61,916. Nearly £8,000 of the claims were paid to McGrath and he even chased HMRC and threatened legal action when payments were withheld during the investigation.

McGrath held numerous factory and security jobs between 2012 and 2015.

Despite paying income tax via PAYE for the various jobs, he simultaneously lodged the Self-Assessment returns, which claimed he was self-employed.

McGrath was charged with three counts of fraud by false representation between January 2013 and April 2016.

He pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years at Birmingham Crown Court. He was also ordered to complete a rehabilitation programme for gambling, pay £3,750 in costs and told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “McGrath made several bogus claims over a prolonged period of time in order to line his own pockets.”

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