Tradies and small businesses could continue to lose $14.5 million a day from dodgy directors and illegal phoenix activity if Scott Morrison votes against Labor’s amendments to the Combatting Illegal Phoenixing bill today.
Through these amendments, Labor will give the Government the opportunity to vote for their own plan to actually tackle illegal phoenixing and introduce a Director Identification Number.
Illegal phoenix activity occurs when a new company is created to continue the business of a company that has been deliberately liquidated to avoid paying its debts, including taxes, creditors and employee entitlements – costing tradies, small businesses and the tax office over $5 billion a year.
Labor’s amendment to create a Director Identification Number are supported by stakeholders across the political spectrum, including unions, small business, tradies, the construction industry, tax professionals, and phoenixing experts.
As noted by experts in reports, you could practically sign your dog up as a director of a company. This is why experts agree that the single most effective measure to track dodgy phoenix operators is the Director Identification Number.
A Director Identification Number is bipartisan policy, with Labor’s amendments using government legislation from last term.
The DIN amendments replicate legislation the Government introduced into the last Parliament which lapsed at the election, but has not been reintroduced.
It beggars belief that the government is allowing fraudsters to rip off small businesses and their employees to prioritise a partisan political agenda of attacking unions and medical evacuations.
Labor is also concerned by reports that the Director Identification Number may not be up and running for at least three years due to the government’s stalling. There are suggestions that the reason for the delay is because the Government refuses to fund a $500 million IT upgrade to implement the bipartisan DIN measure.
Fraudulent directors will cost legitimate business owners, their employees, and the economy an estimated $15 billion due to Scott Morrison’s inaction in that time.
We can’t wait for another construction industry collapse or Plutus Payroll scandal to expose the damage done by dodgy directors.
The question remains, will the Government vote for their own policy – or will they sacrifice tradies and small businesses to the tune of $15 billion, all for politically-motivated stunts.
WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2019
