The director of King East Auto Inc. in Kitchener has been fined $12,925 after being convicted for failing to report and remit Retail Sales Tax (RST) collected from customers.

The Ministry of Revenue's Special Investigations Branch charged Manjit Jandu and the corporation after discovering Jandu directed the business willful evasion by failing to pay $25,850 in RST collected between April 2002 and May 2005.

Jandu pleaded guilty to the charge under the Retail Sales Tax Act on October 6, 2008 and entered a plea of guilty for the corporation. Jandu must also pay a $3,231 surcharge to the Victims Justice Fund.

The Ministry of Revenue operates a voluntary disclosure program. Corporations and individuals may come forward and voluntarily report past violations of provincial tax laws and pay any amounts owing. Prosecution and civil negligence penalties are waived in such cases. To qualify for immunity from prosecution and penalties, a disclosure must be truly voluntary it cannot be prompted by a request for access to a taxpayer's business records or other ministry enforcement action.