Family-owned northern NSW printer Printit has been forced out of business by an unfavourable tax audit, according to general manager Jeff Roberts.
Yamba-based Printit has appointed liquidators Worrells Solvency to wind up the business and a meeting of creditors will be held next week.
“It’s a kick in the guts as far as I’m concerned,” said Roberts, a 30-year print veteran who ran the business with his wife, Gaye, a director. “The whole tax audit was poorly conducted, based on assumption rather than fact. The ATO disputed the details of the sale of a company we had owned previously and said the contract was invalid, despite the fact that transaction was found to be legitimate in 2013.
“The terms of the audit were unreasonable and there were numerous errors in the ATO documentation. They came back to us earlier this month saying we still owed them $270,000, mainly due to the ATO shifting its position on the contract and associated penalties. We were forced to make the decision to approach Worrells about winding up the company, otherwise we would have been trading while insolvent.
“Printit was basically a small regional print business with a few employees and turnover of about $30,000 a month and they’ve forced us out of business, costing jobs in the region. I’m not happy about it but I think it would probably be inappropriate if I commented further. We were a small organisation with no real debtors left apart from the tax office and myself. We’ve tried to do the right thing all the way through and have used our private funds to pay trade creditors and especially paper suppliers because they get burned too often, as you can see with what happened at Paragon recently."
Despite the demise of Printit, Roberts says he’s determined to stay in the printing industry. “We'll do whatever is necessary to overcome this situation and continue to operate but unfortunately it won't be in Yamba. I truly appreciate the ongoing support we've received from the trade and especially from a trade printer in Currumbin who has supported Printit since production in Yamba was shut down."
Worrells Solvency has called a meeting of creditors for next Tuesday, 22 December, on the Gold Coast.