Courts / Dublin / Report
IT consultant who failed to pay €180k in VAT sent to jail after suspended sentence deemed too lenient
Summary
Clive Gargan, 48, an IT consultant, was jailed for 12 months after the Court of Appeal quashed a fully suspended three‑year sentence it deemed too lenient for failing to pay €180,623.51 in VAT over seven years. He had been charged with 84 VAT‑related offences, including 42 counts of failing to deliver VAT returns and 42 counts of failing to pay VAT within the statutory period between 2009 and 2016. Gargan entered guilty pleas to eight counts and had paid the sum due plus interest by the time of his original sentencing. The Court of Appeal, led by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, imposed a headline sentence of five years, reduced to three and a half years after mitigation, and suspended the final two and a half years, leaving one year in custody. The State had appealed the original suspended sentence, arguing that too much weight had been given to mitigating factors.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: IT consultant who failed to pay €180k in VAT sent to jail after suspended sentence deemed too lenient. Charges or matters: 84 VAT related offences in total; 42 counts of failing to deliver VAT returns and 42 counts of failing to pay VAT within a statutory period between 2009 and 2016; eight counts, with the balance of the counts taken into consideration; 42 counts of failure to deliver a VAT return contrary to S 1078(2)(g)(ii) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as amended by S 133(a) of the Finance Act, 2002 and 42 counts of failing to pay the VAT due within the statutory period contrary to Section 1078 (2)(i) of the same Act, as amended between 2009 and 2016. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- October 25, 2004 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 1, 2006 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 15, 2023 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 2009 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 2006 Other
- June 30, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 1st, 2023 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2009 and 2016 Other
- 2010 and 2011 Other
- 2024-06-11 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: 84 VAT related offences in total; 42 counts of failing to deliver VAT returns and 42 counts of failing to pay VAT within a statutory period between 2009 and 2016; eight counts, with the balance of the counts taken into consideration; 42 counts of failure to deliver a VAT return contrary to S 1078(2)(g)(ii) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as amended by S 133(a) of the Finance Act, 2002 and 42 counts of failing to pay the VAT due within the statutory period contrary to Section 1078 (2)(i) of the same Act, as amended between 2009 and 2016 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: A wholly suspended sentence was imposed after Gargan entered guilty pleas to eight counts, with the balance of the counts taken into consideration. The State had appealed the leniency of the three-year suspended sentence imposed by sentencing judge Ms Justice Patricia Ryan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on December 15, 2023, arguing that too much weight had been given to the mitigating factors in the case.
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