A director penalty notice and amended tax records show different figures
Organise an amended-reporting and payment reconciliation for professional assessment of a director penalty notice.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
The latest account does not match the notice
Suppose a director's penalty notice shows an amount different from a recent tax account report. The company has lodged an amendment and made a payment since the original reporting period. The director assumes the notice can be ignored. Instead, ask the tax agent and a qualified lawyer to reconcile the records and assess what the changes mean for the notice.
ASIC advises directors to seek professional advice immediately when a director penalty notice is received. Keep that urgent review separate from the accounting investigation. A changed account figure does not, by itself, explain the legal effect on a notice or its required response. Provide the full notice, not just a screenshot of the balance you believe is now correct.
Collect the original reported amount, amendment details, lodgement evidence and current account information. Record the dates and periods covered by each. In the hypothetical example, the amendment may affect one reporting period while the notice contains several. Do not overwrite the original record with the latest total, because the sequence is part of what advisers need to examine.
List payment dates, amounts, references and the allocation shown in the available tax records. Ask the tax agent to investigate any unclear allocation or timing difference. Do not assume a transfer reduced the specific amount in the notice merely because it went to the ATO. Keep bank evidence and account records together so an apparent discrepancy can be checked accurately.
Prepare a simple bridge from the notice amount to the current figures, with unresolved items clearly labelled. Let the advisers decide the legal consequences, including any reporting-history questions. Avoid declaring that an amendment reverses a lockdown position or that a balance movement eliminates personal exposure. Those conclusions require assessment of the relevant rules and actual records.
Ask who will communicate with the ATO, what information will be supplied and what action must happen meanwhile. Keep acknowledgements and later account updates with the notice file. CRP can help organise the financial information. The aim is an explained difference and a properly advised next step, rather than an assumption that the newest number makes the earlier document irrelevant.
