Bridgecorp receivers have started bankruptcy proceedings against the company's founder.
Rod Petricevic failed to meet a deadline to pay $650,000 into a High Court trust account by 5pm on Tuesday, to settle a tax bill.
PricewaterhouseCoopers say the failed finance company paid his 2006 tax bill.
Mr Petricevic denies he owes the money and says he is broke. The amount involved is $576,000 plus interest.
PricewaterhouseCoopers says he has failed to pay and has begun drawing up court papers to file for bankruptcy.
A date will now be sought for a hearing.
Bridecorp collapsed last July. The company owes 18,000 investors about $500 million. Receivers say stockholders could get as little as 13 cents in the dollar back.