An Ipswich tax cheat who tried to defraud the public purse out of around £50,000 has been jailed.

Ashlee Baker, of Tinabrook Road, was given 26 months’ imprisonment at his Ipswich Crown Court sentencing.

The unemployed 34-year-old had previously admitted fraud by false representation.

Baker had lied on his tax returns.

He submitted a Self Assessment tax return in 2013 claiming he had paid too much tax and was due a repayment.

The false tax return was amended online three times in two and a half hours.

Baker eventually claimed a tax repayment of £33,000. However, he subsequently made a fourth change days later to increase the claim to £44,600.

HM Revenue and Customs(HMRC) opened an inquiry into the claim.

Baker did not respond, but subsequently sent repeated requests for the money to be released.

He submitted another false claim in November 2014 for £5,154.74.

Checks revealed Baker had not worked during the period his claims covered and had paid no tax.

He was arrested and charged with tax fraud but failed to turn up at his court hearing.

Baker was arrested in February this year and he pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

He received his 26-month jail term for the fraud and other non-tax offences.

After the case an HMRC spokesman said: “The majority of us pay what we owe, when it’s due and we will not allow people to steal money that is needed to fund vital public services.

“HMRC will not tolerate tax fraud and will investigate those we suspect of not abiding by the law.

“Anyone with information about suspected tax fraud should contact our hotline on 0800 788 887.”