Company Deregistration
There are several ways to close down a company in Australia. The fastest, cheapest and simplest is company deregistration under the Corporations Act.
Company deregistration eligibility requires all assets and liabilities to be dealt with accordingly, all tax obligations to be lodged and paid, and all profits to be distributed correctly. It is illegal to close a company before completing these items. The directors must certify the following before applying to deregister the company:
- all owners (shareholders) of the company agree to deregister the company
- the company is not carrying on business
- the company’s assets are worth less than $1000
- the company has no outstanding liabilities
- the company is not involved in any legal proceedings, and
- the company has paid all fees and penalties payable under the Corporations Act, such as company renewal and late payment fees.
How Ample Finance can help you?
At Ample Finance we are able to provide a fast, efficient and low-cost company deregistration service. You don’t need to worry about the details – we prepare all the documents for you and lodge them on time to ensure the fastest possible deregistration at the lowest possible fee.
The main consequences of deregistration are that the company ceases to exist as a separate legal entity and any undistributed property of the company “vests” in ASIC. That is, after deregistration, ASIC will be the party that deals with any assets of the company. For this reason, all assets of the company should be transferred prior to the deregistration application is lodged.
The legislation relating to the deregistration of a company is liberal in that an applicant does not require any specific qualifications. The applicant must be the company, a director of the company, a member of the company or a liquidator of the company.
The practicalities that an applicant needs to be concerned about are a number of statutes such as the Income Tax Assessment Act, Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act and the Stamp Duties Act. Therefore, in practice, in many cases the process is handed over to a specialist with the relevant experience.
Any proposed deregistration applicant should make themselves very familiar with the full range of responsibilities and powers in making the application.
The team at Ample Finance have the experience to take care of the deregistration of your company, and avoid the many pitfalls that may be experienced by the unwary.
Ample Finance values your client experience. We endeavour to provide personalised and constructive advice and we pride ourselves on our speed and efficiency. Please don’t hesitate to contact us in person at our Melbourne office, through email at info@amplefinance.com or book an appointment with our company registration specialists at (03) 9988 2911.
