Main version (about 230 words)
In recent conversations with business owners and their advisers, the same two mistakes keep coming up. Not lodging on time. And not moving quickly enough when a director penalty notice arrives.
Both cost more than the tax debt itself.
In the past few weeks alone I have seen a garnishee notice land on a business that had stopped opening ATO letters, and a director discover that a DPN does not pause while you get around to responding.
The backdrop: the ATO continues to issue DPNs in regular waves, and a big batch went out on 2 July. The new financial year brings more reach, not less. Payday Super started 1 July, so unpaid super now creates director exposure from the first missed pay run. The June quarter BAS is due 28 July.
So, on the two mistakes.
Lodging beats paying. Lodge on time, even with no cash, and a DPN stays remittable. You keep options, including restructuring. Lodge late and the penalty locks onto you personally, and no liquidation removes it.
A DPN is a 21 day clock, and it starts on the date on the notice, not the date you read it. Every week of "thinking about it" is a week of options gone. That includes making sure the ATO and ASIC have your current address.
Lodge on time. Open the mail. Move inside the 21 days. The ATO has picked up the pace. The mistakes have not changed.
Suggested first comment (sources)
The ATO's DPN escalation has been widely reported through FY2026, and practitioners continue to see notices issued in regular waves. Payday Super commenced 1 July 2026, requiring super to be paid with wages rather than quarterly, with director penalty exposure attaching from day one. June quarter BAS lodgment is due 28 July 2026.
Verify before posting
- The 2 July batch. I found no public reporting of it, which is fine if it is your own first-hand observation from files and referrer conversations, and framing it that way actually strengthens the practitioner voice. If it came to you second-hand, consider "practitioners are reporting a big batch went out in early July".
- The two anecdotes (the garnishee notice on unopened mail, the director sitting on a DPN) are drawn from your recent file notes, anonymised. Check you are comfortable they are unidentifiable, or swap in older war stories.
- The 21 day clock running from the date on the notice is the standard position. If you want to add the nuance about notices sent to an out of date ASIC address still being validly served, it strengthens the "open the mail" line, but the post works without it.
Notes
This one leans on your practitioner voice harder than the other two, which is the point of the remix. It pairs naturally with your 1 July piece on the ATO small business audit if you want to link them.