{"id":73,"date":"2015-08-05T03:27:51","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T03:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev2.e-cbd.com\/abkj\/articles\/?p=73"},"modified":"2024-12-11T12:35:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T02:35:42","slug":"director-penalty-notices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abkj.com.au\/articles\/director-penalty-notices\/","title":{"rendered":"Director Penalty Notices"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a Director Penalty Notice?<\/h2>\n

If you are a director of a company, even if you do not have anything to do with the day to day running of the company, you should be aware that the Australian Taxation Office is able to pursue you as an individual for certain company debts including Pay As You Go withholding tax and Superannuation Guarantee Charge.<\/p>\n

Before the Australian Taxation Office can commence proceedings against you personally, they must issue a Director Penalty Notice and send it to you.<\/p>\n

The Director Penalty Notice causes a director to have personal liability for the debt referred to in the Notice if you do not take action within 21 days of the date of the Australian Taxation Office\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n

I have received a Director Penalty Notice, what do I do now?<\/h2>\n

The first thing you must do when you receive a Director Penalty Notice is contact your solicitor immediately.\u00a0 Consulting a solicitor as soon as possible may help to reduce a director\u2019s exposure to being personally liable and subsequently defending legal proceedings by the Australian Taxation Office.<\/p>\n

Compliance with Director Penalty Notices<\/h2>\n

You can comply with the Director Penalty Notice by paying the debt, or if your company is experiencing financial difficulty, by appointing an administrator or liquidator to the company.<\/p>\n

Please note that this must be done within the 21 day period.\u00a0 If you do not take the appropriate steps to comply with the letter within the 21 day period, the Australian Taxation Office may commence proceedings against you to recover the debts.<\/p>\n

There are certain defences that are available to a director in such a proceeding including:<\/p>\n