Government aims to protect super with phoenix measures

7 July 2011
| By Ashleigh McIntyre |

The Federal Government has sought submissions on new laws to protect workers’ superannuation from fraudulent phoenix company activity by making directors personally liable.

The Budget measure was designed to prevent employees missing out on entitlements like superannuation when a company is deliberately liquidated and restarted under a different entity.

Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten said there would be three amendments to accomplish this.

These include extending the director penalty regime to make directors personally liable, and allowing the Australian Taxation Office to pursue directors where taxes and superannuation have not been paid after three months.

The Commissioner will also be given discretion to prevent directors from obtaining PAYG withholding credits where the company has an outstanding PAYG liability.

“The Government is committed to ensuring employees receive their entitlements and to taking strong action to deter phoenix activity,” Shorten said.

“However, we recognise the importance of ensuring these changes do not discourage entrepreneurialism and commercial risk-taking or impact unnecessarily on genuine businesses.”

Submissions close 1 August 2011, with the measure expected to be introduced in the spring sittings of Parliament.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

11 months ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

11 months 1 week ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

11 months 1 week ago

Jim Chalmers has defended changes to the Future Fund’s mandate, referring to himself as a “big supporter” of the sovereign wealth fund, amid fierce opposition from the Co...

1 day 23 hours ago

Demand from institutional investors was the main driver of growth in Australia’s responsible investment (RI) market in 2023, as the industry continued to gain momentum....

1 day 23 hours ago

In a new review of the country’s largest fund, a research house says it’s well placed to deliver attractive returns despite challenges....

2 days ago