Vailo company wound up over $41m debt to the ATO

Another company in bankrupt businessman Aaron Hickmann’s crumbling empire has collapsed over a huge tax debt. But he says it’s more “fake news”.

Vailo’s bankrupt founder Aaron Hickmann.

Another company in bankrupt businessman Aaron Hickmann’s crumbling empire has collapsed over a $41m tax debt.

Liquidators have been appointed to wind up Ikara Invest 02 Pty Ltd, a company established by Mr Hickmann in 2019 and forming part of his failed Vailo group of lighting companies.

It follows a creditor’s petition launched by the Australian Taxation Office, which is chasing Mr Hickmann and several of his companies over tens of millions of dollars it claims it’s owed in unpaid GST and other taxes.

Liquidator Oliver Sheahan from Sheahan Lock Partners said early investigations into the affairs of the company had commenced, but it was too early to provide details of the total debt owed to creditors.

Vailo founder Aaron Hickmann disputes the ATO’s debt claims. Picture: Ben Clark

“The company was wound up at the petition of the ATO over a $41.4m GST liability,” he said.

“Whilst the administration is in its infancy, we are taking prompt steps to ascertain the current status of the company’s asset, liability and trading position, and the extent to which claims might be available to us as liquidators of the company.

“The company appears to have been involved in the wholesale dealing of lighting, and later in technology research activities, and its shareholders include Valo Group Holdings Pty Ltd.

“At this stage, it does not appear that the company has any ongoing trading activity.”

The Advertiser reported in May that the ATO was seeking almost $135m in unpaid taxes from Mr Hickmann’s estate following his fall into bankruptcy.

But Mr Hickmann has rejected those debt claims, suggesting his “genuine tax debt” to the ATO stands at just $343,000.

On Tuesday he told The Advertiser he was challenging the ATO’s claims in the Administrative Review Tribunal – an independent body that reviews decisions made by federal government bodies.

“The debt is wrong, and the story is fake news,” he said.

“The review process under way will see the correct amount come to light.”

Vailo was plunged into receivership in March of this year, and Mr Hickmann was declared bankrupt in May after failing to repay an almost $600,000 loan.

Marlbury Capital Lending Services pursued the sequestration action, claiming Mr Hickmann had not repaid a $596,424.20 loan, and it was later joined in the bankruptcy action by the ATO as a “supporting creditor”.

Originally published as Vailo company wound up over $41m debt to the ATO