Deregistered Companies

The lists below are of companies that have been removed from the official Australian records. You should scroll through the lists to determine if your company is on the list and see below for an explanation of deregistration.

Previously listed Australian companies:

What does company deregistration mean to you?

The company is removed from the official ASIC records as a registered company. Once a company is deregistered, it no longer exists. There are no shares, nothing.

Deregistration can be voluntary or it can occur by winding up a solvent company, winding up an insolvent company or it can be ASIC initiated.

Deregistration is recognized as a Capital Gains Tax Event. Shareholders can crystallise a capital loss for tax purposes in the tax year a company is deregistered. (Providing the shares were acquired on or after 20 September 1985, and are held by Australian tax residents on capital account, ie for long-term investment purposes). 

Shareholders should also be aware of other CGT Events, the two important ones being:

1) The disposal of shares which can take place on the market in the normal manner or, if they can no longer be sold on the market, we may be able to assist with acquisition of your shares to crystallise a loss, see our "Sell Your Worthless Shares" webpage.

2) The issue by administrators or liquidators of a loss declaration. Such declaration signifies that there will be no distribution or further distribution to shareholders and any capital loss is thus crystallised. Declarations issued since 1985 can be found at our  "Loss Declarations" webpage.

Reinstatement of a deregistered company

There have been several cases in the Federal Court that have illustrated circumstances where the reinstatement of a deregistered company may take place. In particular the ATO will reinstate previously deregistered companies, where those companies have substantial amounts of tax due.

For the purposes of the Act, section 601AA allows a company to be voluntarily deregistered if the following criteria are satisfied:

• all the members of the company agree to the deregistration;
• the company is not carrying on business;
• the company’s assets are worth less than $1,000;
• the company has paid all fees and penalties payable under the Act;
• the company has no outstanding liabilities; and
• the company is not a party to any legal proceedings.

A director or member of the company, amongst others, can initiate the process. If a company is deregistered, it is a statutory requirement that the directors of the company immediately before deregistration must keep the company’s books for 3 years after the deregistration (subsection 601AD(5)), with potential criminal ramifications if the books are destroyed in that time.

However, section 601AH also provides that a company can be reinstated by the court if a person has been aggrieved by the deregistration, and the court is satisfied that it is just that the company’s registration be reinstated.

A person being “aggrieved” has been broadly interpreted and includes a person who has been damaged or injured in a legal sense.

A reregistration of a company is “just” if there is no apparent injustice or prejudice caused by the reinstatement, and the court has a very wide discretion in assessing any factors it thinks are relevant.

Claiming money owed to a deregistered company

If you have found a record of unclaimed money in the name of a deregistered company and you are a former shareholder or officeholder, you may have a claim to the money.

If the company was deregistered in the last few years and you were an officeholder when this happened, you should consider reinstating the company as this may allow the funds to be claimed.

If that costs too much and ASIC holds the funds, it may approve a claim if the company was solvent at the time of deregistration. The claim may be approved if the company did not owe any creditors, did not have any security interests registered on the Personal Property and Securities Register and you are the owner of the shares. However, ASIC assesses claims on a case-by-case basis.

Finding your company

If your company has been deregistered there are four ways of finding it:

•  Scroll through the lists above.
•  Search by code (see box above right)
• Search by company name (see box above left)
• Click on the appropriate letter of the alphabet (see the alphabet index above)

If you are unable to find your company or the information is incomplete or incomprehensible we recommend you send us a message and we will try to assist.