A man who was once told that free food did not exist after saying some lawyers "wanted me to pay them" for advice about his 54 tax-related charges is now a police target after he failed to attend court.
Dilawaaiz Dil had his case listed in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday when an ATO prosecutor said they were ready to proceed with the case ex parte, where one party acts on behalf of another.
The court previously heard that Dil, who had not pleaded to 54 counts of failing to furnish a tax return, allegedly failed to comply with taxation law requirements in 2012-19.
During the latest session, magistrate Louise Taylor said material about the defendant sent to the court in July indicated a number of personal factors that could "potentially impact the outcome".
Ms Taylor said she was "reluctant to deal with them [charges] ex parte" because he was facing a "very large financial outcome".
"We've tried several times to connect him ... he's now not contactable," she said.
"If he brings himself to the attention of the police as he did on the last occasion, then the matter can be dealt with."
Ms Taylor issued an arrest warrant.
In a previous appearance in March, special magistrate Margaret Hunter told the defendant that free food did not exist after he said he had not obtained legal advice because of the costs.
Upon being asked by Ms Hunter if he had sought legal advice in the previous two months, Dil said Legal Aid could not help him and that other lawyers "want me to pay them".
Ms Hunter responded with "that's usually because they know how much it'd cost and they give you an idea of how much the cost is".
"If you go to a shop, you don't expect to eat the food and not pay," Ms Hunter said.
"So if you go to a lawyer, they're going to give you advice, but they'll tell you it's going to cost you X amount of dollars so you'll have to pay them."
The court at the time also heard the defendant had since furnished most of the tax returns, with only two lodgements outstanding.
An arrest warrant was also issued in January and the defendant failed to appear in court four times in 2018-19.
