ASIC Form 6010 is the application you lodge with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to voluntarily deregister a company that is no longer needed. It costs $50, and once ASIC publishes the notice of proposed deregistration, the company is removed from the register about two months later. Before you can lodge, the company has to meet six conditions in Section 601AA(2) of the Corporations Act 2001. You can lodge online through the ASIC Company officeholder portal, or on paper by mail.
The Six Eligibility Conditions
ASIC will reject the application and keep the $50 fee if any condition is unmet, so work through each one before you touch the form.
- Every member (shareholder) of the company agrees to the deregistration.
- The company has stopped carrying on business.
- The total value of the company’s assets is less than $1,000.
- All fees and penalties owed to ASIC have been paid.
- The company has no outstanding liabilities to any party.
- The company is not a party to any legal proceedings.
The asset threshold catches people out most often. Bank balances, equipment, inventory, and invoices owed to the company all count toward the $1,000 cap. A forgotten bank account or a small receivable is enough to sink the application. Distribute or dispose of assets above the threshold before you lodge.
If the Company Is a Trustee
If the company acts as trustee of a family trust or any other trust, deregistering it causes trust property held by the company to vest in the Commonwealth, represented by ASIC. Former directors lose any right to deal with those assets. Appoint a replacement trustee before lodging Form 6010. Otherwise, recovering the trust property means a reinstatement or court application, neither of which is quick or cheap.
Sort Out Tax and Registrations First
ASIC handles the company’s existence on the register. The Australian Taxation Office handles tax obligations separately, and several things need to be tied off before or alongside your Form 6010 lodgement.
Final Company Tax Return
A company must lodge a tax return for every year it carried on business, even if it earned no income in the final period. Lodge the final return covering the period up to the date the company stopped operating, and report any remaining taxable income, offsets, credits, and PAYG instalments. If the company uses a registered tax agent, the agent can confirm the specific lodgement deadline.
Cancel the GST Registration
If the company is registered for GST, cancel that registration within 21 days of ceasing business. You can do this through Online services for business, through a registered tax or BAS agent, by phoning the ATO on 13 28 66 (Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm), or by posting the Application to cancel registration form (NAT 2955). Cancelling GST does not remove the obligation to lodge outstanding activity statements or to meet any remaining PAYG withholding or fringe benefits tax obligations.1Australian Taxation Office. Cancelling Your GST Registration
Cancel the ABN
Once the company has closed down and stopped operating in Australia, cancel its Australian Business Number. If the company has PAYG withholding obligations, cancel those before cancelling the ABN itself.2Australian Business Register. Cancel Your ABN The ABN should be cancelled within 28 days of closing or restructuring the business.1Australian Taxation Office. Cancelling Your GST Registration
Pay Out Employee Entitlements
The “no outstanding liabilities” condition covers employees. Anyone made redundant as part of winding down the business is entitled to their final pay, accrued annual leave, long service leave, and, for companies with 15 or more employees, redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards. Notice of termination, or payment in lieu, is also required.3Fair Work Ombudsman. Redundancy Pay
Redundancy pay is calculated on the employee’s base rate for ordinary hours and scales with length of continuous service. An employee with one to two years of service receives four weeks’ pay; one with nine to ten years receives 16 weeks. An applicable award or enterprise agreement may set higher amounts.3Fair Work Ombudsman. Redundancy Pay
What Form 6010 Asks For
The form itself is short. Download the current version from the ASIC forms page, or complete it directly in the Company officeholder portal.4Australian Securities and Investments Commission. ASIC Form 6010 Application for Voluntary Deregistration of a Company You’ll provide:
- The exact registered company name and ACN as they appear on the ASIC register. A minor discrepancy can delay processing.
- Applicant name, address, and contact details. ASIC uses these to communicate throughout the process.
- A signed declaration confirming the company meets all six eligibility conditions.
The form must be signed by an eligible signatory: a director or secretary (where the applicant is the company itself), a director or member of the company in their own right, or a liquidator.5Australian Securities and Investments Commission. ASIC Form 6010 Application for Voluntary Deregistration Signing the declaration when a condition is not actually met can expose the signatory to penalties for making a false statement to a Commonwealth regulator.
Lodging the Form and Paying the Fee
You have two options. Lodging online through the ASIC Company officeholder portal is faster. The alternative is to print the form and mail it, which adds transit and manual processing time.
The lodgement fee is $50.6business.gov.au. Deregister a Company Pay by credit card or electronic funds transfer through the portal, or include a cheque or money order with a mailed form. ASIC does not refund the fee if the application is rejected, and you’ll pay again to resubmit.5Australian Securities and Investments Commission. ASIC Form 6010 Application for Voluntary Deregistration Check every eligibility condition before lodging.
What Happens After You Lodge
ASIC reviews the application for completeness and compliance. If it checks out, ASIC writes to confirm the pending deregistration and publishes a notice on the ASIC Published Notices website at publishednotices.asic.gov.au.6business.gov.au. Deregister a Company
A two-month waiting period runs from the date of that notice. During that window the company still legally exists and must continue meeting any remaining statutory obligations. Two months after publication, if no issues arise, ASIC deregisters the company and notifies the applicant.6business.gov.au. Deregister a Company
If a Third Party Objects
Any third party, such as a creditor, can contact ASIC during the two-month notice period to request a deferral. ASIC will consider deferring for an initial 30 days. During that deferral, the third party can request a further delay or a full stop, provided they have started or plan to start legal proceedings against the company.7Australian Securities and Investments Commission. ASIC Voluntary Deregistration of a Company The objector must provide the company’s name and ACN, the reason for the request, any supporting evidence, and a postal address. ASIC then decides whether to proceed, delay, or cancel the deregistration. A creditor with a legitimate unpaid debt has clear grounds to block the application, which is why the “no outstanding liabilities” condition matters so much.
Property Left in the Company at Deregistration
Any property the company still holds at the point of deregistration vests in ASIC on behalf of the Commonwealth. Former directors lose the legal right to deal with it. This applies to bank balances, real estate, intellectual property, shares in other entities, and trust assets held in a trustee capacity. After deregistration, ASIC is generally the only party that can deal with vested property.
If property surfaces later that should have been distributed first, recovering it usually means applying to ASIC for reinstatement of the company’s registration or, in some cases, making an application to a court. Neither is quick or guaranteed. Distribute or dispose of everything before lodging.
Keep the Company’s Records for Three Years
Deregistration does not end the obligation to keep the company’s books. Under Section 601AD(5) of the Corporations Act 2001, the directors of the company immediately before deregistration must keep the books for three years after deregistration.8Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Books and Records of a Deregistered Company
Those records include financial statements, tax records, minutes of meetings, and registers of members. Keep them organised and accessible; the ATO or another agency may need to review them during the retention period. The company no longer exists as a legal entity, but the personal responsibility of its former directors for these records continues for the full three years.