IRD seeking to liquidate engineering firm
by Steve Hepburn · Otago Daily Times Online NewsA large Dunedin engineering firm is facing liquidation over tax obligations.
The Inland Revenue Department has applied to put SW (Pre 2023) Ltd formerly Site Weld NZ Ltd, into liquidation with a hearing set for Thursday in the High Court at Dunedin.
It is not known how much money is involved between IRD and the engineering company. The Otago Daily Times was unable to secure a statement of claim and verifying affidavit about the liquidation application yesterday.
Attempts to contact owners of SW (Pre 2023) were unsuccessful yesterday with directors Stephanie Olsen and Adrian Geddes-Olsen not replying to a request for comment.
Site Weld NZ has been in business since September 2012, and its website states it employs more than 50 people. They have a branch in Willis St, Dunedin and branch offices in Central Otago and the West Coast.
The company changed its name from Site Weld to SW (Pre 2023) on June 8 this year.
Stephanie Olsen and Adrian Geddes-Olsen are also the directors of the company Living the Dreams Holdings Ltd, which holds a 99.8% share in the engineering company, with the Olsens holding the other shares.
IRD has been busy chasing tax debts lately — and there is a lot to seek.
Up to the end of the financial year on June 30, the Inland Revenue commissioner made 888 liquidation and bankruptcy orders to the courts.
Of those, 735 were liquidations — more than two a day.
In the previous financial year, there were 650 liquidations — a 49% increase on the year before.
Last year, the government announced in the Budget it was providing $35 million a year for IRD to carry out tax compliance and collection activities.
An IRD spokesperson said for companies which choose not to pay or cannot pay, it uses the bankruptcy and liquidation process as a last resort to physically stop businesses from trading.
Overdue tax and entitlements debt was sitting at $9.4 billion at the end of March.
In dealing with significant tax debt or insolvency matters, IRD considered all relevant information available and had a range of legislative tools to support the collection of tax and protect the integrity of the tax system, the spokesperson said.
‘‘Depending on the circumstances, these can include information-gathering powers, recovery action through legal proceedings, deductions, asset preservation measures and prosecution.’’
Liquidators have statutory powers to investigate a company’s affairs, review transactions entered into before insolvency, and, where appropriate, seek to recover assets or challenge transactions that may have unfairly prejudiced creditors.
If taxpayers are in trouble they should contact IRD as soon as possible, the spokesperson said.
Also set for liquidation hearings brought by IRD in the High Court on Thursday are The Local Brews and Bites Ltd and Mohammed Jameel & Son’s Ltd.
Companies Office records yesterday showed the three shareholders of Mohammed Jameel & Son’s, all based in Cromwell, had put the company into liquidation on Wednesday.