Mr Potato Management wind-up application over tax
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.
kathleen.skene@news.com.au
Originally published as ATO lodges wind-up application against Mr Potato Management over unpaid taxes
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Do class actions really deliver justice?
Sam Hawley: On average, there's a class action launched in Australia every week. But do they really help bring justice to groups of Australians exposed to wrongdoing? Today, Anne Connolly on her Four Corners investigation into the class action traps leaving victims short-changed and lawyers richer. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. Sam Hawley: Anne, in Australia, class actions have become pretty common, haven't they? It's a really important way to address injustices in this country. Anne Connolly: Well, yes, that's what class actions are designed to do. And I mean, when there were some really major catastrophes, such as the Victorian bushfires, the Queensland floods, class actions were taken to get some money back for those people. News report: Property owners around Horsham in Victoria have banded together to bring the first class action arising from the Black Saturday bushfires. Anne Connolly: Same with the pelvic mesh issue against Johnson & Johnson. News report: The federal court found Johnson & Johnson had been negligent and driven by commercial interest and ordered them to pay compensation. Anne Connolly: There's many, and they're very varied. Sam Hawley: Yeah, and you found during your Four Corners investigation, this is a billion dollar industry, but it's not always in favour of the individual victims. So to explain this further, why don't we look at a recent case, Anne, a legal fight between more than 8,000 Australian taxi drivers and Uber. Anne Connolly: Well, I mean, I think most people remember when Uber entered the market, obviously the taxi industry was absolutely decimated. They just couldn't compete any longer. One of the taxi owners I spoke to is a man called Stephen Lacaze. He said he had a licence in Queensland, which was at the time valued at about half a million dollars. It went to being virtually worthless once Uber came along. Stephen Lacaze, taxi owner: Oh, it was devastating. People virtually went into shock. Anne Connolly: So when Maurice Blackburn, which is one of the biggest class action firms in Australia, came along and proposed a class action, he was very keen to sign up. Stephen Lacaze, taxi owner: We were friendless. And here comes Maurice Blackburn with their Bradman-like batting averages, and their 'we fight for fair' banner, and we're there with bells on. Sam Hawley: OK, so Stephen was keen to fight this. Maurice Blackburn lawyers take it on, and they get a third party, a litigation funder, to pay the costs. Just explain how that works. Anne Connolly: Yeah, so what happens is Maurice Blackburn doesn't want to go this alone. So what they do is they engage somebody called a litigation funder. And litigation funders, they pay the lawyers' fees, they support them, and if they lose, they pay all of the costs, so there is some risk. But in return for taking that risk, they want a percentage of any payout that they win. 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Anne Connolly: Well, there's some people who are concerned about that. I mean, the lawyers and the funders will say, without us, people would get nothing. The problem is that what's happening now is most people think a class action begins with a group of victims, but that's not really the case anymore. Now everything has changed because litigation funders have now entered the Australian market. So what happens is, it's the law firms and the litigation funders getting together and seeing, what are these issues that we could launch a class action on so that they can make money and then they can sign up the group members? So the concern is, are they really seeking justice for people or are they actually just finding a business opportunity so that they can make as much profit as they possibly can? Sam Hawley: Anne, let's now look at another case where the victims are left with, in comparison, petty change. Just tell me about Minnie McDonald. 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ABC News
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