Self-employed courier liable to pay €471,000 fine over ‘deliberate’ failure to file tax returns, High Court rules

The High Court has permitted Revenue to collect a €471,000 fine on a self-employed courier who failed to file income tax or VAT returns over five consecutive years.
Lawyers for the Revenue Commissioners told the High Court that Bienvenu Mbemba, with an address at Curragha Road, Rathoath, Co Meath, “deliberately” did not file tax returns for the years 2014 to 2018, in which he should have paid €356,448 in income tax and VAT of €114,787.
The court heard Revenue believes the defaults were deliberate, as Mr Mbemba was aware of his filing obligations having previously been prosecuted over filing failures.
Barrister Kieran Binchy, representing Revenue officer Siobhán Dooner, said a maximum “100 per cent” penalty applied to his case, meaning he pays the tax payable plus that amount again as a fine. The penalty would have been lowered significantly if Mr Mbemba engaged with Revenue’s inquiry, he told the court.
In an affidavit, Ms Dooner told the court that Mr Mbemba was in November 2011 convicted at Navan District Court for failing to file income tax returns for the years 2006 to 2009.
Despite this, she said, he continued to trade without filing income tax and VAT returns for five years. Revenue began to look into his tax affairs in early 2018 and, by analysing payments to Mr Mbemba detailed in third-party filings, confirmed his work gave rise to income tax and VAT liabilities, she said.
She said Mr Mbemba was convicted again in Navan District Court in 2018 for failing to file VAT returns for certain periods in 2017 and was fined €1,250 for each default.
In spring 2019, Revenue notified him his tax affairs were being investigated and, six times during the following months, sought a list of documentation from him, said Ms Dooner. He failed to reply or provide the documentation sought, so Revenue obtained his bank records to corroborate its earlier findings, she said.
In July 2022, she said, he filed VAT returns for September 2017 to December 2018 and final assessments were issued.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan this week made an order, under the Taxes Consolidation Act, determining that Mr Mbemba is liable to penalties totalling €471,235. He also permitted Revenue to recover the penalty as if it were tax.
Mr Mbemba was not present in court, but the judge was satisfied he had been properly served with the legal documents in the case.