With less than 7 weeks left before the 3oth November Director Identification Number deadline you need to check that your clients have complied. Remember that directors of any company, including those that act solely as SMSF corporate trustees, are included provided that they were a director at any time from 31st October 2021. This includes directors who have since resigned or, strangely, died.
Failure to have a director ID when required to do so or failure to apply when directed by the Registrar can carry a maximum criminal penalty of $13,200 or up to $1,100,000 under civil law. To what extent these provisions will be applied is unknown but we can safely assume that the deceased will not be penalised – though relatives may suffer some angst when the inevitable reminder/show cause notices are issued.
Applications may be made online, by phone (13 62 50 in Australia or +61 2 6216 3440 if overseas) or via a paper form (NAT75329) though I have been unable to locate the form and wonder if it has been discontinued. In any case it is a slower and more cumbersome option.
You need to tell clients that have been waiting until the last moment that it has arrived.