Director penalty notice regime under review

The Government intends to introduce tax law changes this year to expand the current director penalty notice regime. The changes aim to tackle fraudulent phoenix activity that caused a loss of revenue and a loss of employee superannuation entitlements.  Phoenix activity is the practice of individuals incorporating a company, incurring debts in the entity and then liquidating it in order to avoid repaying those debts. Following the liquidation of one company, the directors of the company simply incorporate a new company and repeat the process all over again. The Government had attempted to introduce legislation last year but agreed to a parliamentary committee's recommendation to consult further on the proposed amendments. A concern raised during the committee's consultation was that honest company directors could potentially be caught by the proposed changes.