A man facing 54 charges for allegedly failing to lodge his tax returns properly for nearly one decade has been told that free food does not exist after he said he had not obtained legal advice because of the costs.
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The ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday heard that Dilawaaiz Dil allegedly failed to comply with taxation law requirements in 2012-19.
Mr Dil has not pleaded to 54 counts of failing to furnish tax returns and failed to appear in court four times in 2018-19, prompting an arrest warrant to be issued in January this year.
In court, upon being asked by Special Magistrate Margaret Hunter if he had sought legal advice in the previous two months, Mr Dill said Legal Aid could not help him and that other lawyers "want me to pay them".
Ms Hunter responded: "That's usually because they know how much it'd cost and they give you an idea of how much the cost is".
"If you go to a shop, you don't expect to eat the food and not pay," Ms Hunter said.
"So if you go to a lawyer, they're going to give you advice, but they'll tell you it's going to cost you X amount of dollars so you'll have to pay them.
"These are serious [charges]."
Ms Hunter told him that if he were to be convicted, he should "understand that there'll be a significant fine".
"But if you can get some legal advice, it may well be that somebody can make a plea on your part to say that we won't impose the maximum penalties on you," she said.
"Especially given that you've now furnished [most of] the tax returns."
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The court heard that Mr Dill has since submitted all the necessary information to the ATO in relation to all but two lodgements, which he said would be finalised in the coming month.
An ATO prosecutor said that because of the different periods in which the alleged offending happened, the lowest maximum penalty per charge is $2200 and the highest maximum is $5000.
The prosecutor said each charge would be proceeding and that they could not be rolled up into one.
Mr Dil had his case adjourned until July during the next ATO court list to allow him to obtain legal advice.
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