32Where tax not paid during lifetime

32 Where tax not paid during lifetime

(1) The following provisions of this section apply where, at the time of an employer’s death, tax due by the employer has not been assessed or paid. (2) The Commissioner has the same powers and remedies for the assessment and recovery of tax from the trustees of the estate of the employer in respect of the liability to which the employer was subject as he or she would have had against the employer if he or she were alive. (3) The trustees shall furnish such of the returns referred to in Part IV as have not been furnished by the deceased and such other returns as the Commissioner requires. (3A) Where the trustees are unable or refuse or fail to furnish a return, the Commissioner may estimate and make an assessment of the amount of wages in respect of which, in the Commissioner’s judgment, tax ought to be paid. (4) The trustees are subject to additional tax to the same extent as the deceased employer would have been subject to additional tax if he or she were alive, but the Commissioner may, in a particular case, for reasons that he or she thinks sufficient, remit the whole or part of the additional tax. (5) The amount of any tax payable by the trustees is a charge on all the deceased employer’s estate in their hands in priority to all other encumbrances other than charges in respect of debts payable to the Commissioner. (6) In this section, unless the contrary intention appears, tax includes: (a) further tax; and (b) additional tax under section 27 or 42.