Thomas McKay, 31, from Banbridge, created false invoices for his non-existent farming business to reclaim VAT he was not entitled to.
He was prosecuted after a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation.
HMRC investigators obtained witness statements from 24 businesses that McKay claimed he had traded with.
These confirmed that the invoices were false and McKay had not traded with any of them.
HMRC's Mike Parkinson said: "McKay deliberately set out to create a false paper trail so that he could claim money that he was not entitled to.
"Although he didn't own a farm he registered a farming business to manipulate a system that exists for the benefit of legitimate companies with the sole purpose of lining his own pockets."
McKay was sentenced at Newry Crown Court on Wednesday.
A confiscation hearing to recover the proceeds of his crime will follow.
A County Down man, who registered as a farmer to steal over £200,000 in a VAT refund fraud even though he did not own a farm, has been jailed for 10 months.