In the recent case of Deputy Commissioner of Taxation, in the matter of ABW Design & Construction Pty Ltd v ABW Design & Construction Pty Ltd [2012] FCA 346 (4 April 2012), the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) suffered the dismissal of its winding-up application because the Statutory Demand that the winding-up application relied upon was not served correctly.

The envelope was stamped “PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL” and that stamping had partially obscured the postcode.

As the postcode  the was part of the registered office address of the company, the obscuring of any part of it meant that not all of the address was visible on the envelope. This denied  the ATO the opportunity to rely on the presumption of service under s 28 of the Acts Interpretation Act, s 109X of the Corporations Act and consequential deemed delivery four days after post under s 160 of the Evidence Act because the envelope was not correctly addressed.  At [24], Logan J said:

In my opinion, the obscuring of the post code by over stamping means that the envelope containing the statutory demand and supporting affidavit has not been sent by the Commissioner by post to the registered office of ABW. That means that the Commissioner has not complied with the terms upon which s 28A of the Acts Interpretation Act and s 109X of the Corporations Act permit a document such as a statutory demand to be served by post on this particular company. No other manner of service was adopted.

(emphasis added)

This case highlights the strict approach of the courts in matters concerning the winding-up of companies.