Inland Revenue going ‘full throttle’ on January liquidation applications

Inland Revenue said it had a busy start to the year with liquidation applications. Photo / 123rf

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is fulfilling its promise to go “full throttle” on compliance work after last year’s Budget boost, with applications made already this month to liquidate companies for unpaid tax.

Keaton Pronk of accountants McDonald Vague said the IRD had “started the war drums early in 2025″.

The IRD confirmed a busy start to the year with liquidation applications.

“As you know, there is an increased level of compliance activity with the extra funding for this work in last year’s Budget. We’ve released some information about that work for the September quarter,” the IRD said.

A December 10 IRD statement was headed “Full throttle on compliance work” and referred to more action in this area.

Pronk said January was usually a slow month for the IRD applying to High Courts around New Zealand to have liquidators appointed.

But by Monday this week, the Gazette showed it had applied to liquidate 16 companies, Pronk said.

“If they do advertise in January it is normally from mid-January onwards. Not so in 2025,” he said.

The quietest January for IRD liquidation applications this decade was in 2020 when only four were made, Pront noted.

The Gazette showed that on January 10 and 13, the IRD applied to High Courts to liquidate many companies.

The first six companies on this list are associated with Gulati Group of East Tamaki and directors Onil Kumar Gulati and Penoy Gulati.

The IRD has this month applied to liquidate these companies and others:

• Gulati Holdings, a commercial property investment business incorporated in 2021;
• Onilco Petroleum trading as Mobil Kumeu, a service station company incorporated in 2020;
• Vienna Hotels, a hotel company incorporated in 2021;
• Vish Energy, a service station operation incorporated in 2022;
• PP Energy trading as Mobil Morrinsville, incorporated in 2012;
• PP Fuel trading as Mobil Frankton, the service station business incorporated in 2020;
• Jondee, an Invercargill customs agency and broking service incorporated in 2015;
• E10, a real estate agency service company incorporated in 2021;
• Applejacks 2019, a restaurant operation incorporated in 2019;
• N S Wholesale, a vehicle business incorporated in 2009;
• J & P Drainage Contractors of Massey, incorporated in 2007;
• Handystacks, a firewood cutting and retailing company incorporated in 2015;
• Kitchen Story, a furniture manufacturing business of Hobsonville, incorporated in 2018;
• Smiles Roofing, a Titirangi business which does guttering installation and roof repairs.

All the applications have to go before courts to get a decision so none of these businesses has been declared insolvent.

Hearings for most of these businesses are due next month or in March.

Tony Morris, Inland Revenue’s segment lead for significant enterprise, spoke about action taken from last July to September.

Inland Revenue made it easy for people to get things right, hard for people to get it wrong and costly for the few who deliberately try to avoid their tax obligations.

“Most people do get things right without IR chasing them. Between July and September 97% of returns filed were on time, and 96% of the tax collected was paid on time,” Morris said last year.

“But we also opened almost 2000 audit cases in the first quarter, 55% more than the July to September quarter last year. IR has collected more than $1 billion of overdue debt in the three months.

“Between our audits and our automated systems, we amended returns to the tune of almost $400 million,” he said.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.