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A NSW accountant has been barred from managing companies for the maximum period of time allowable, after a messy trail of failing to pay tax and creditors.
Tax dodging sees accountant banned in $1.4m mess
17 August 2018
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6 minute read
ASIC disqualified Jason Andrew Hammond from regional NSW after his involvement in three failed companies. The ban took effect last week, and will extend to 2023.
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The corporate regulator found, among a list of items, that Mr Hammond failed to pay tax and ensure that proper financial records were kept.
Mr Hammond also continued to behave “without regard for the law and his professional responsibilities as a director and an accountant,” ASIC said in a statement yesterday.
Further, ASIC found Mr Hammond improperly used his corporate position by causing assets to be transferred with “little or no consideration”, to the detriment of unsecured creditors.
Phoenix activity was also a key concern, with ASIC finding Mr Hammond transferred the business of an indebted company to a new company. This left the initial company with no assets to pay creditors, while continuing what was essentially the same business using the new company.
The total amount of debts owed to creditors by the three companies Mr Hammond was involved in was approximately $1.4 million.
ASIC is a member of the Phoenix Taskforce, and coinciding with the release of draft legislation targeting phoenix activity, the federal government has been firing warning shots about its compliance approach for several months.
Most recently, the ATO was part of a raid on tax agents in Melbourne, as part of its broader efforts to crack down on phoenix activity.
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