Deregistering a company

Ensure all tax and superannuation obligations are up to date before voluntarily deregistering a company. This includes:

  • lodging all overdue and final taxation forms, including tax returns, activity statements, fringe benefits tax returns and taxable payments annual reports
  • paying all outstanding debts
  • finalising the company’s superannuation affairs, including paying superannuation guarantee amounts and charges
  • finalising end of year reporting, for example, Single Touch Payroll (STP) reports
  • ensuring a replacement trustee is appointed if the company is acting as the corporate trustee of a superannuation fund or trust
  • finalising lodgments and other obligations if the company is part of a goods and services tax (GST) or income tax (IT) group, or a partner in a partnership.

Directors of a company may still be liable for some debts incurred before deregistration. For example, if a company does not meet its PAYG withholding or superannuation guarantee charge (SGC) obligations, the ATO may recover these amounts from former directors of the company under the director penalty regime.