Commercial negotiations are commonly conducted by email where the parties express informal agreement on the terms and say ‘it is subject to contract’ or ‘subject to the execution of a contract’.
It is common for the Commissioner of Taxation to issue a statutory demand against a company and express the debt as a single amount, being the total deficit debt stipulated on a Running Balance Account (RBA). No breakdown is provided in the statutory demand showing the actual composition of the debt as between primary taxation obligations.
In Devren Pty Ltd v Old Coach Developments Pty Ltd and Ors [2015] QSC 53, funds payable to a company were paid to other entities in accordance with the direction of Mr Clair, the purported managing director of the company.
When a company is facing short term financial difficulties the directors or shareholders may decide to make a loan to the company to pay wages.
When a loan is secured by guarantees given by more than one person, disputes can often arise between co-guarantors as to who should bear the burden of paying out the loan, and in what proportions.
In a recent Western Australian case, Australian Regional Wholesalers Pty Ltd v Gardiner [2014] WASC 439, a supplier was owed a significant amount by its customer. To deal with this, the supplier took a very common approach and stopped supply.