Newsletter; Director ID’s
From 1 November 2021, an individual who is appointed as a company director for the first time will need to apply for a Director ID within 28 days of appointment. From 5 April 2022, applications need to be made before being appointed as a director.
Existing company directors have until 30 November 2022 to apply for a Director ID.
Each individual director must apply for their own Director ID with a three-step process:
Step 1: Setup myGovID: https://www.mygovid.gov.au/
Step 2: Gather your documents: TFN, residential address and two documents to verify your identity.
Step 3: Complete your application: https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number
Failure to comply with these new Director ID requirements may result in both civil and criminal penalties. The onus to obtain a Director ID is on the director and not the company. At this stage, Director ID’s are not recorded with ASIC or the ATO. Directors ID’s will initially be private unsearchable numbers (public visibility is being considered by Treasury & the ATO).
Companies can still be incorporated without Director ID’s. Companies are expected to be migrated from ASIC to ABRS systems from September 2023 where data matching will link directors to companies (the ABR system will also be migrated to ABRS and retired).
