Hi everyone,
I need a little help with ABN/ACN. My friend is looking into purchasing an apartment in Melbourne. We tried to look for the ACN and business name (provided in the contract) in the ABNLookup website but both were not showing up. The apartment has not been built and we are not sure if this is the reason. Does anyone know about the possibility of the ACN not showing up?
Any comment will be appreciated. Thanks everyone!
The apartment has not been built and we are not sure if this is the reason
That will have nothing to do with the ABN.
The ABN may be registered in a different state to Vic so make sure you search nationwide.
Double check you are typing the ABN in correctly, if you can go to their website and copy the ABN onto the search website.
Let me understand your question, you are buying an apartment and the building companies ACN is not showing up in the ABN Lookup.
Most plausible explanation is that the company does not have an ABN.
Now, the question is if it does not have an ABN, can it trade. Answer is yes,because you would find that the company would be a trustee for a property trust or a family or unit trust. So the company would be trading on behalf of the trust and it is the trust ABN which it would be using.
Most property companies are operated under complex trust/trustee structures.
If you need to find the ABN may be do an incomplete name search. For example, if the apartment is at 5 Avenue, try searching for 5 avenue on the ABN lookup. You may come across an ABN - As trustee for the 5 Avenue Unit Trust.
With the name search you may have to be creative as there is no way of knowing what is the exact name of a trust. Easiest way would be to ask the vendor for their ABN.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.
Thanks everyone. We tried searching under the ASIC website and were to able to search all the relevant ABN in there. The building company is operated under a trustee structure like spal mentioned above. So I think everything have been sorted out. Thanks again!
Give this a shot: http://www.search.asic.gov.au/gns001.html
Make sure you select "All Names" under the search bar. Failing that, contact the landlord and specifically ask them for an explanation regarding this issue.