ATO lodges wind-up application against Mr Potato Management over unpaid taxes

The ATO is seeking to wind up a key company in national fast food group, but it hasn’t stopped its glamorous founders from embarking on a national tour to recruit new franchisees.

The ATO is seeking to wind up a key company in a national fast food group, but it hasn’t stopped its glamorous founders from embarking on a tour of Australia.

Mr Potato was launched by model Jess Davis, 34, and husband Tyson Hoffman, 30, aka Tyson Finau, who played for the Adelaide 36ers NBL team.

Court documents reveal the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation launched Federal Court wind-up action against Mr Potato Management on May 9 and a liquidator consented to take on the company if it was successful.

A hearing on the matter has been adjourned to July 4.

Earlier this year, former franchisees of the chain revealed they’d had to sell their homes and consider legal action after their stores failed to turn a profit.

One claimed to have lost $130,000 in seven months.

Meanwhile, Ms Davis and Mr Finau are touring the country in the Mr Potato food truck, having travelled throughout NSW, the Northern Territory and Queensland in the past three months.

Jess Davis and Tyson Finau on Mr Potato's Australian Tour. Photo: Contributed

The tour is scheduled to finish in Kalgoorlie, WA, in August and is seeking to make a Guinness World Record for the longest distance and most number of stops travelled by a food truck on a single road trip.

Disgruntled former franchisees fear the trip is part of a bid to recruit new franchisees to the brand.

News Corp has contacted Ms Davis for comment on the tax case.

The Mr Potato chain has lost more than half its network in the past two years, with its last Queensland stores, at Mermaid Waters and Broadbeach, closing in February.

The chain’s Melbourne store, which launched at Highpoint Shopping Centre last year, is no longer operating, while stores at Hyde Park SA and Joondalup WA have also been shuttered.

The Mr Potato suggests the group is looking for franchisees to open stores in eight new locations across the country.

As the number of franchises boiled down from 13 to six, its high-profile founders were seeking investment in their next project – a luxury eco resort on a remote island in Tonga.

Ms Davis, who made a quest to be Miss Universe last year, said Mr Potato adhered to the Australian Franchise Code.

Originally published as ATO lodges wind-up application against Mr Potato Management over unpaid taxes