Bovale Developments is going back through its books to see how cash payments of £94,000 paid to Mr James Gogarty and workers were handled tax-wise, the tribunal was told.
Giving evidence, Ms Caroline Bailey, wife of Mr Tom Bailey, a director of Bovale Developments, said she was aware the company was "working out the tax element" of these payments.
She said a book was opened in April 1990 which contained the details of the cash payments, three of which seemed to refer to Mr Gogarty. She described the small copybook, with a picture of a cat on the front, as the "kitten book" and said it was a "memory aid" for Mr Tom Bailey.
On behalf of the tribunal, Mr Desmond O'Neill SC said: "Can I suggest to you that, in fact, there was no record of these payments going through the books of account of the company?"
Ms Bailey admitted she made no record of them.
"Why is it that you were keeping accounts which did not record these payments for what they were, namely wages for workers?" asked Mr O'Neill.
"Because I was working as a book-keeper on my instructions from the directors," replied Ms Bailey.
The cash payments involved cheques made out to cash being given mainly to workers by Mr Tom Bailey. When asked how she recorded them in the company's cheque journal, she said: "They would probably be just recorded as cash payments."
"But they must be attributed to a particular expenditure by the company," said Mr O'Neill.
"I wouldn't have attributed them to anything. In my cheque journal I would have referred to them as cash," Ms Bailey said. "So you're saying you furnished your accountant with books of account which recorded cash payments annually of £94,000 at a minimum, and that you left it to him to ascertain whether or not they should be sums upon which tax would be deducted," said Mr O'Neill.
"It would have been left to the directors," Ms Bailey replied.
"Well, presumably if they indicated that these sums were sums paid by way of wage bonuses, there would have been a tax liability for them, isn't that right?" asked Mr O'Neill.
"There would, of course. Yes," replied Ms Bailey.
Mr O'Neill said entries in the book referring to Mr Gogarty and someone known as "E Early" were written in black biro. "And everything else is in blue, is that right?" asked Mr O'Neill. Ms Bailey said it was.
"I think it was just only picking up a biro at different times, you know. . . The colour of the biro indicates nothing," said Ms Bailey.