This Dublin-based food importer was jailed for six years, after he “mislabelled” his Chinese garlic imports as apples. I mean, it’s an easy mistake to make… Garlic, apples… they’re similar, right? But why would he label his garlic as apples? Surely that’s no big deal? It’s all fruit and veg after all… But at the time, Chinese garlic had a higher duty rate than apples. 

Much higher. 24 times higher, in fact!  This meant that Begley’s “mislabelling” resulted in him failing to pay a whopping €1.6 million in tax! I say “mislabelling” but Begley himself pleaded guilty to tax evasion and to four counts of evading customs duty overall. Not really a smart plan. 

As the internet has opened up the world, more and more people are importing and exporting than ever before! But that means there’s more and more people dabbling in things that they don’t quite understand. You don’t have to be a genius to understand freight. But you do have to have the right knowledge if you want to stay on the right side of the law. 

Now, I know you wouldn’t ever commit deliberate tax evasion, but because importing and exporting can be complicated, you’ve got multiple countries’ laws and duties involved, it can be easy to make mistakes. That’s why you should always work with a trusted freight forwarder who will advise you and give you the information you need, to keep your imports and exports squeaky-clean – and you out of prison! 

Have you heard any other import and export stories like Paul’s? I’d love to hear them…