Andrew Goldsmith pays $485k ATO tax debt to save business

It is one of Sydney’s famed restaurants that was almost sunk thanks to a $485,000 debt owed to the Australian Taxation Office. But the Balmoral Boathouse was saved thanks to a last-minute intervention by company owner Andrew Goldsmith.

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It’s the half-a-million dollar cheque that, literally, got lost in the mail.

One of Sydney’s top restaurant operators claims it was a simple “administrative error” of failing to update a mailing address that landed him in a Federal court up against the Australian Taxation Office.

Andrew Goldsmith, owner of the popular, multimillion-dollar hospitality empire The Boathouse Group, was due to appear last week in Federal Court to challenge a tax bill of just under $485,000 in a case lodged by the ATO on March 18.

The ATO also sought to wind up the exclusive Balmoral Beach outpost of the Boathouse empire and appoint a liquidator.

Andrew Goldsmith, pictured with wife Pip, paid the ATO debt.

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The debt, according to court documents obtained by the Sunday Telegraph, was related to unpaid taxes under alleged goods and services and PAYG withholding provisions.

The ATO had also specifically requested the court to appoint liquidation firm O’Brien Palmer, which charges around $600 per hour, to recover the unpaid funds.

However the case was dismissed at the eleventh hour and the debt paid by Goldsmith — a high-profile restaurant veteran who, along with wife Pip, founded the Boathouse Group in 2008.

The company has since spawned eight swanky venues including the Boathouse Balmoral Beach — the restaurant at the centre of the ATO case.

A spokeswoman for Goldsmith denied any deliberate wrong doing over the matter this week saying he simply failed to redirect mail after a change of address and missed the notifications from the ATO.

The Boathouse at Balmoral.

“The Boathouse Group understands its tax payment obligations,” the spokeswomen explained.

“Unfortunately, due to an administrative mix-up, our mail was sent to an old mailing address.

“As a result, payment due dates and subsequent correspondence from the ATO were overlooked.

The payment has been resolved and as you can see the matter was dismissed.”

The Boathouse chain of restaurants are a hotspot among Sydney’s wealthy high-flyers and are dotted among the most affluent areas including Mosman, Palm Beach and Whale Beach.

The latest outpost in the empire recently opened in Patonga Beach while Goldsmith also recently took the reigns at Palm Beach’s iconic Barrenjoey House.