As a director you could be held personally liable for failure to report and pay your GST and other tax debts on-time.
Recent changes to the ATO's Director Penalty Notice (DPN) regime, now allows the ATO to serve directors with 21 day's notice to either:
- pay their company's outstanding GST liabilities
- or place their company into voluntary administration or liquidation.
Failure to take one of these steps would result in the director being personally liable for the liabilities set out in the DPN.
Most importantly Directors who fail to report GST liabilities to the ATO within 3 months of their due dates will not be able to place their company into voluntary administration or liquidation to escape personal liability.
The ATO also has the power to make directors personally liable for its estimates of a company's various tax liabilities and can make use of this power where a company fails to lodge activity statements and other ATO lodgements.
BRI Ferrier is experienced in dealing with issues associated with cash flow and the ATO. For advice on these issues contact your local BRI Ferrier professional.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.