Ashley shield.
de Jonge.
Hank de Jonge and Ashley Shield have found the coin to avert an outcome liable to embarrass any self-respecting pre-insolvency advisor, namely being wound up over unpaid tax debts.
In the Federal Court this morning, National Judicial Registrar Peter Schmidt ordered that the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation’s (DCoT) originating process seeking the winding up of DJRA (VIC) Pty Ltd dated March 20, 2024 be dismissed and that the defendants pay the DCoT’s costs.
Today’s hearing followed lawyers for DJRA (VIC) telling the court last week that their clients were intending to pay the outstanding amount and wanted a one week adjournment of the winding up hearing, a request to which the DCoT consented.
The orders bring to an end the DCoT’s pursuit of DJRA (VIC) but De Jonge and Shield are still dealing with almost a quarter of a million in unpaid superannuation guarantee charges courtesy of their decision in 2023 to voluntarily wind up related entity Carringsmith Pty Ltd.
According to the January 2024 report of Carringsmith’s liquidator Richard Rohrt, de Jonge and Shield tipped the company into liquidation after receiving “a creditor’s statutory demand from the ATO stating that the Company owes $232,898.59 in respect of accrued outstanding SGC (amongst other claims)”.
In his RoCAP for Carringsmith de Jonge declared the ATO was a contingent creditor in the liquidation of Carringsmith for more than $1.4 million.
But the payment to keep DJRA (VIC) Pty Ltd out of liquidation suggests sometimes pre-insolvency advisors think avoiding solvency is preferred.
Further reading:
Pre-insolvency advisor changes name, winds up
ATO debt no bar to pre-insolvency guru’s expo gig
The query that often arises in such applications is whether there were other creditors who remained outstanding and the manner in which the funding to pay the ATO was provided to the company?