Director penalty notice (DPN)

A director penalty notice, or DPN, is a notice issued by the Australian Taxation Office making a company director personally liable for certain unpaid company tax debts, typically PAYG withholding, superannuation guarantee charge or GST, unless the debt is addressed within the notice's strict timeframe. A non-lockdown DPN gives a director options, including placing the company into administration or liquidation, to avoid personal liability, but a lockdown DPN, issued where the underlying debt was never reported, leaves the director personally liable regardless of what is done afterwards — the type of notice and its deadline should be checked immediately on receipt.⚠ Refinance and short-term finance is sometimes used to clear the underlying ATO debt before a DPN's deadline passes, converting a personal liability risk into a structured business debt. Anyone who receives a DPN should get advice from an accountant or insolvency practitioner promptly, given how time-limited the available responses are.

Related

ATO debt refinance · ATO payment plan · Garnishee notice