Payroll Tax Act 2007

Within 14 days after becoming liquidator of a company that has been an employer registered or required to be registered under this Act, the liquidator must give the Chief Commissioner notice in writing of the liquidator’s appointment.

As soon as practicable after receiving the notice, the Chief Commissioner must notify the liquidator of the amount that appears to the Chief Commissioner to be sufficient to provide for any tax which is or will become payable by the company.

The liquidator—

must not without leave of the Chief Commissioner part with any of the assets of the company until the liquidator has been so notified, and

must set aside out of the assets available for the payment of the tax, assets to the value of the amount so notified, or the whole of the assets so available if they are of less than that value, and

is, to the extent of the value of the assets which the liquidator is so required to set aside, liable as trustee to pay the tax.

A liquidator must not fail—

to comply with this section, or

as trustee duly to pay the tax for which the liquidator is liable under subsection (3).

If a liquidator commits an offence against subsection (4), the liquidator is personally liable to pay the tax, to the extent of the value of the assets of which the liquidator has taken possession and which are, or were at any time, available to the liquidator for the payment of the tax.

If more than one person is appointed as liquidator or required by law to carry out the winding-up of a company—

the obligations and liabilities attaching to a liquidator under this section attach to each of those persons, and

if any one of those persons has paid the tax due in respect of the company being wound-up, the others are each liable to pay that person that person’s equal share of the amount of the tax so paid.

Despite anything in this section, all costs, charges and expenses that, in the Chief Commissioner’s opinion, have been properly incurred by a liquidator in the winding-up of a company, including the remuneration of the liquidator, may be paid out of the assets of the company in priority to any tax payable in respect of the company.

Nothing in this section—

limits the liability of a liquidator under section 91, or

affects any of the provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.