What is a public officer?

A public officer of a company is the primary person who will deal with ATO regarding the tax affairs of the company. This includes record keeping and company tax returns. Appointing a public officer is optional.

If you want to appoint a public officer pursuant to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 you must ensure your consitution or replaceable rules allows the appointment of a public officer on behalf of the company. You must notify the ATO about the appointment within three months of the entity commencing business in Australia. The notifcation of appointment must contain  the public officers name and contact address.

Who can be a public officer?

A public officer must be a person who is over 18 years of age, understands the requirements of being a public officer and ordinarily resides in Australia. Once appointed, the individual will be recorded as the officer for that entity on the ATO database.

How do I appoint a public officer?

Normally a resolution is passed to appoint a public officer for the registered company. Abbots provides a template for the appointment of public officer. If you have ordered your company through us you can redownload your company documents and print out the "Notice of Appointment of Public Officer" form.  

Once correctly executed, this can be lodged with the ATO.

Other questions in Company Registration