27Liquidators etc.

27 Liquidators etc.

(1) Every person (in this section called the trustee):

(a) who is liquidator of any company which is being wound up and is, or has been, required to furnish returns under this Act;

(b) who is receiver for any debenture holder, and has taken possession of any assets of any such company; or

(c) who is agent for an employer who is not resident in Australia and has been required by his principal to wind up the business or realize the assets of his principal;

shall, within 14 days after he has become liquidator, or after he has so taken possession of assets, or after he has been so required by his principal, give notice thereof to the Commissioner. (2) The Commissioner shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, notify to the trustee the amount which appears to the Commissioner to be sufficient to provide for any charge which then is or will thereafter become payable by the company or principal, as the case may be. (3) Subject to subsection (3B), if the trustee is a person of the kind referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), the trustee:

(a) shall not, without the leave of the Commissioner, part with any of the assets of the company until the trustee has been so notified;

(b) shall set aside, out of the assets available for payment of ordinary debts of the company, assets to the value of an amount that bears to the value of the assets available for payment of ordinary debts of the company the same proportion as the amount notified by the Commissioner under subsection (2) bears to the sum of:

(i) the amount notified by the Commissioner under subsection (2);

(ii) any amount of prescribed tax that the Commissioner is required to notify to the trustee under an Act other than this Act and has so notified; and

(iii) the aggregate of the ordinary debts of the company (excluding any debt in respect of charge or prescribed tax); and

(c) is, to the extent of the value of the assets that the trustee is so required to set aside, liable as trustee to pay the charge.

(3A) If the trustee is a person of the kind referred to in paragraph (1)(c), the trustee:

(a) shall not, without the leave of the Commissioner, part with any of the assets of the principal until the trustee has been notified by the Commissioner under subsection (2);

(b) shall set aside, out of the assets available for the payment of the charge, assets to the value of the amount so notified, or the whole of the assets so available if they are of less than that value; and

(c) is, to the extent of the value of the assets that the trustee is so required to set aside, liable as trustee to pay the charge.

(3B) Nothing in paragraph (3)(a) prevents the trustee parting with assets of the company for the purpose of paying debts of the company that are not ordinary debts of the company. (3C) For the purposes of subsections (3) and (3B), a debt of the company is an ordinary debt if: