Paraparaumu pizza shop owner sentenced to home detention for tax evasion

Wenbin (Ivan) Shi was sentenced in the Porirua District Court on Thursday to 10 months' home detention for evading more than $500,000 in tax. Shi operated SWB Foods Ltd, which traded as Hell’s Pizza in Paraparaumu, from 2014. He faced a representative charge of failing to provide GST, company, and personal income tax returns, as well as a charge of aiding and abetting the franchise by not passing PAYE deductions from staff wages to Inland Revenue.

An Inland Revenue audit in June 2024 found the business had a tax debt of approximately $400,000. The audit revealed that Shi stopped filing GST returns in 2020, leaving $185,143.86 outstanding. Between July 2019 and November 2022, Shi filed returns and took PAYE from staff wages but failed to pay it to Inland Revenue, leaving $194,295.50 unpaid after some arrears were recovered via statutory demands.

The company also failed to file five annual income tax returns between March 2020 and March 2024, with an estimated $124,415.77 owed. In November 2025, Shi filed all outstanding GST and income tax returns totalling $503,855.13. After repaying $100,000 before sentencing, the total loss to Inland Revenue was $403,855.13.

Judge Andy Nicolls noted that deterrence and denunciation were important factors in the sentence. He stated that offending against Inland Revenue was not a "victimless crime".

Where reports differ

• One report states the sentencing occurred on October 15, while others say it was on Thursday

Compiled from reports by NZ Herald, RNZ, 1News and Stuff.