Automatic Deregistration of Companies

Last updated June 2011

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will deregister companies that have not paid their annual review fee. This action is under s601AB(1A) of the Corporations Act. ASIC may deregister a company if its annual review fee has not been paid in full by at least 12 months after the due date for payment for that fee.

To avoid this type of ASIC deregistration, ensure that your company pays its annual review fee in full by the due date.

How can you stop the deregistration action?

The company and its directors will be sent a letter telling them that deregistration action has started. To stop deregistration you must pay the outstanding review fee for your company immediately, in full. ASIC allocate payments to your company's oldest debt first, so to ensure you have paid your review fee in full and to stop deregistration, pay ALL amounts (including late fees) owed to ASIC by your company.

Deregistration and the Taxation Office

If you believe that letting ASIC deregister your company means any creditor you owe will not be able to recover their debt, think again. The Taxation Office has successfully brought action in the courts to have companies re-registered so they can pursue debts owed to them. Depending on the circumstances, the law also allows directors of those companies to become personally liable for debts of the company if the company is unable to pay.

Alternatives

If you have a company and want to close it down, or put it into hibernation, there are several options for doing this. Please contact us for assistance.