NSW Director Penalty Notice - Company not put in Voluntary Administration

[DEV RAJ]

Last year, the ATO served me with a Director Penalty Notice (DPN) for non-payment of company tax liability (tax debt). The notice given was 21 days. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put the company into voluntary administration before the expiry of 21 days.

 

[Sarah J]

Hi DEV RAJ,

You need to respond to this notice straight away. Perhaps speak with a financial advisor or accountant to see whether the ATO is correctly charging you for the taxes. This penalty is for past taxes. It does not matter whether the company is still trading or not. The penalty relates to previous periods when the company was trading. You, as director, have a duty to ensure the company complies with its tax obligations. It appears you have failed to meet this duty, which is why you are being served with a director penalty notice.

In other words, there are two issues here:

1. The company owes the ATO unpaid taxes (if the company goes into administration, this may affect the debt); and
2. You breached your duty as a director by letting the company fall behind on tax (this breach exists whether or not the company later goes into administration).