Claiming funds from ASIC for deregistered company

Howdy, just a quick question if anyone has an similar experience regarding claiming unclaimed monies from ASIC.

A friend and I had a small business/company (PTY LTD) for a few years, which we deregistered in 2020 as it was going nowhere. First time we had our own business so new to lots of it. When we ceased operation, the money leftover was still in a business bank account doing nothing. I had asked my tax agent multiple times if I can just take it out and transfer it to myself personally (as I never took a wage) without tax implications etc. Their answer was always umm Yes and No, so just never touched it.

Few months after de-registration, the bank put a stop on the account and said sorry nothing you can do, the company isn't active, the money will go to ASIC soon and then you claim it. After much arguing and customer relations cases, the money didnt go to ASIC till 7 months later (when it should have taken 2 weeks only).

I filled out all the stat decs and got my ID copies signed off by JP but I then read if your claiming for a deregistered company, to email ASIC first.

So wow that ASIC does have the money, ASIC are now basically telling me you can only access your money after reinstating your company. I am going to take ownership that I should have looked into what I needed to do with the cash, i get it. But to now be told you can only access your money if you pay nearly 18 months of company registration costs (about $550) seems like they really do have a gun to your head. Mind you during this reinstatement period I will have to do a BAS and then a yearly tax return at end of financial, so more costs. You then also pay to deregister about $300.

Emailing ASIC takes a 4 day turnaround for an answer and the phone is useless, it rings for 2 clicks then says leave a voicemail, which they never respond to. I cannot believe these people via a government agency are overseeing this country's finances and operate like this?

I still am friends with my business partner and we do not owe money to any creditors.

Has anyone had a similar experience or provide any possible avenue of help please? This issue has really stressed me out... Thank you.

 

How much money is in the account?

 

About 25k

The bank which ive been with all my life and has pretty much all accounts, also did this without notifying us which made me so angry in the first place. When I asked for correspondence, they sent me the generic letter which has the {INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE} info all throughout. It took them 3 months to actually post the letter that actually had my name on it. It was all very strange at the time and very surprised the business side of banking would be so horrible.

 

You deregistered a company that had a bank account with 25k in it.

you can complain about the process all you want, but now that you put yourself in this position, you really have no choice but to follow the rules.

 

once a company is deregistered it no longer exists - its dead. You would have no authority to deal with any of its assets any further. To get this authority it has to be revived and then you will be director again and can begin to have authority to deal with its assets - keep in mind they are not your assets.

 

Terry_w, wouldnt there have to be an assessment about what the money is when distributed. Directors fees, dividends, return of capital, all of which might be taxable income in some form?

 

100% accept the mistakes made.
The truth is it was a very stressful time running a business going nowhere and it ruined our relationship for a very long time. Deregistering was our way of moving on and not having to do constant BAS and tax stuff when we basically had no income.
Its a big learning curve running a company and you have to keep on top of it. I get that but was too naive and had lack of understanding at the time. It didnt help that our accountant was very unclear on lots of activities and charged us double the price they had originally quoted for a business with hardly any transactions.
I just couldn't understand why the money goes to ASIC (OK, sorta get it but without communication of this) and why the bank itself never advised to just reinstate the company would be better option.

 

Hence my question multiple times to our tax accountant. Could I simply transfer money from a business bank account into my personal account without proper payroll? I never paid myself a wage and we didnt need payroll. No money was owed to anyone and tax was up to date.
I was very concerned of the implications and repercussions of having money moved from business to personal account in regards to tax for both myself and the business.

 

not if it was just deregistered. If it was liquidated then yes. A company isn't supposed to be deregistered if it has assts.

 

This is a simple 'no'. The company could have paid a dividend or wages or director fees.

If the company didn't owe anyone money where did its money come from? Was it retained earnings?

 

Retained earnings over 2-3 years. All expenses, taxes, accountant fees were paid from the account and this was just the left over money we received from our earnings over that period.
I know this will sound all crazy to someone in the know like yourself. Again, accepting the blame of not being up to scratch ourselves but considering our accountant also took care of the ASIC de-registration for us and we paid for this service and many others at a premium, they were FULLY aware that the company still had assets, such as the cash in account. I think they may of been spooked thinking if we offloaded the cash, we would not be able to pay for there service any longer, i don't know, maybe?

 

you might have a claim against them

 

The form 6010 and https://download.asic.gov.au/media/3246907/6010.pdf that is signed to deregister a company declares the company has less than $1k assets and no liabilities. A Director should sign that form. It can also be signed by a liquidator or sharehlder if there are no Directors...A Director should not instruct another person to deregister a company with assets (they are then acting as a liquidator and no formal qualification exists for this other than a COURT appointed liquidator) . These must be distributed in accordance with the consitution. The process is to wind up the company and leave just its residual assets and cash. Then advise how that should be distributed. Often as a DIVIDEND to shareholders. Perhaps as a return of capital although that is limited and the ATO view is a surplus arising from profits inst a return of capital but is a dividend. The compnay would also need to ensure it has lodged a final return that declares the dividend paid etc. All these matters are things the ATO may find the "public officer" personally liable to do

You may need to reinstate the company. Unpaid and past unissued ASIC fees will then become due and are usually required to be paid for reinstatement to occur.