Attention accountants. Don’t get blamed by your client when a DPN goes to the wrong address

Attention accountants. Don’t get blamed by your client when a DPN goes to the wrong address

The ATO’s ‘debt holiday’ is well and truly over, and it has moved past the warning phase and has been issuing a steady stream of director penalty notices (DPNs).

As an accountant, there is a fair chance you act as the registered office for your client’s company.  However, you know that you can’t be responsible for making sure all the directors’ details are up to date on the ASIC register.  But, do your clients understand that it is their responsibility and not yours?

This fresh wave of DPNs throws this disconnect into the spotlight – particularly as updating director addresses with ASIC has been the last thing on people’s minds over the last 36 months.

By law, the ATO must serve a DPN to the address the director has registered as their residential address on the ASIC record for the company in question.  Timeframes to escape personal liability under a DPN are incredibly tight – if it is sent to the wrong address, there is almost no chance that time will be left to take any action (see our article here).

And this then comes back to our earlier question: you may know that you aren’t responsible for updating director addresses with ASIC, but does your client?  We would wager that when your client realises they are already personally liable because the DPN went to an old address, they will be looking for someone to blame.

A gentle reminder to update may be in order.

If you have a client issued with a DPN, we can provide specialist advice on the options available. Call us on 1300 654 590 or email us to get started.

The information in this post is current at the date of editing – 7 January 2025

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