Developer who owed €1m to the taxman is spared prison

A PROPERTY developer who owed more than €1million in unpaid taxes and penalties has received 240 hours of community service.

James Jordan, 51, also received a fully suspended 18-month sentence.

At an earlier sentence hearing, Séamus Clarke SC, defending, handed in a signed agreement between his client and Revenue that Jordan will pay around €5,000 a month for 113 months. Jordan has already made payments totalling €57,500.

The court heard that Jordan came to the attention of a special Revenue unit looking for high-wealth individuals due to his having a large property portfolio in the 2000s.

Former Revenue officer Elizabeth Keane said Jordan was required to pay capital gains tax on the sale of five properties, for a total of €1,960,500, between 2004 and 2010, but failed to do so. She said the tax returns he submitted in that period were incorrect due to the failure to pay capital gains tax. He also submitted four incorrect invoices that lowered his VAT liability.

Jordan, of Laochfail, Outfarm Lane, Castleknock, Dublin, has one previous conviction from 2017 for failure to file an income tax return. He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly and wilfully submitting 16 incorrect VAT returns, six incorrect income tax returns, four incorrect invoices and three false claims of income tax relief.

The total figure he owed when interest and penalties were factored in was €1,236,881. Mr Clarke said Jordan ran a carpet business and that people would lose their jobs if he was given a custodial sentence.

Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin sentenced Jordan to 240 hours of community service in lieu of 18 months’ imprisonment for one count of submitting an incorrect tax return. She also sentenced him to 18 months’ imprisonment for one count of submitting an incorrect invoice, but fully suspended the term.