DPN Notices - Disputing The Underlying Debt
The Full Federal Court has recently provided some guidance as to who is entitled to dispute an estimate of a company’s PAYG, GST and SGC liabilities which are the subject of a Director Penalty Notice (DPN) in subsequent Director Penalty proceedings issued by the Commissioner against a director.
The Full Federal Court has recently provided some guidance as to who is entitled to dispute an estimate of a company’s PAYG, GST and SGC liabilities which are the subject of a Director Penalty Notice (DPN) in subsequent Director Penalty proceedings issued by the Commissioner against a director.
In Mandalinic -v- Stone (liquidator) [2023] FCAFC 146 the Court held that the proper person for filing an affidavit in dispute of the estimate liability is not the company director the subject of the DPN but rather the company’s liquidator.
The take home here is that a company director would be well advised to seek a reduction or revocation of an estimated liability issued to the company prior to the commencement of the winding up. Any decision post liquidation is in the hands of the liquidator who may or may not have sufficient funds in the liquidation to investigate whether and to what extent any estimate of liability should be reduced or revoked.