Our firm provides a comprehensive range of income tax advice covering business, personal and international tax areas.
Business Tax
Our business tax services cover all types of business structures whether they be:
- Companies;
- Trusts (including Unit Trusts, Discretionary Trusts or hybrid Trusts);
- Partnerships (Including Limited Liability Partnerships)
- Individual Sole Traders
We provide advice in relation to business structuring so that individuals wanting to engage in business can do so in a tax effective way and in a way that takes into account asset protection and estate planning concerns. We provide this business structuring advice both in the initial phase where a business structure is first established and on an on-going basis throughout the life of the business structure. We also provide this type of advice to existing business structures, focusing on how such existing structures can be streamlined for tax effective purposes.
Our firm has specialist expertise in superannuation law and are able to integrate our business structuring advice with advice related to an individual’s retirement planning. This provides for a complete road map into the future for individuals to develop and run their own businesses with the security of a long term plan.
In addition to our general business structuring advice we also provide income tax advice on:
- The consequences of changing from one type of business structure to another type such as moving from a partnership to a company structure (this is important in a growing business);
- The consequences of ending a business structure (includes corporate liquidations and the winding up of trusts and partnerships) ;
- Acquisitions and disposals of business assets or entire businesses ;
- The development of employee share plans and other types of employee remuneration schemes.
Besides providing income tax advice our firm has practical expertise in the drafting of many commercial documents needed to implement such income tax advice. This provides a one stop shop for businesses.
Personal Tax
Our personal tax services include the provision of advice on:
- Salary packaging;
- The claiming of deductions including the impact of the non-commercial losses provisions;
- The impact of the personal services income tax provisions on consultants and independent contractor arrangements;
- The taxation of eligible termination payments;
The taxation of retirement income streams including the tax treatment of super income streams, transition to retirement income streams, income streams from defined benefit super funds, and non-super income streams; - The application of the capital gains tax on acquisitions and disposals by individuals personally.
Besides providing tax planning advice our firm also makes representations on behalf of clients to the Australian Taxation Office. This includes:
- Making applications for private binding rulings on proposed business arrangements;
- Assisting clients in dealing with taxation audits and requests from the Australian Taxation Office for information of their business affairs; and
- Representing clients in taxation disputes with the Australian Taxation Office (this includes engaging in informal review procedures within the Australian Taxation Office, litigating such disputes through the courts and tribunals , and negotiating settlements of such disputes) .
International Tax
Our firm’s expertise in income tax also covers the taxation of international transactions. In particular for business tax purposes we are able to advise on:
- Controlled Foreign Companies (“CFC”) and Foreign Investment Funds (“FIF”) issues for companies and trusts which are located overseas but controlled by Australian Residents;
- Foreign trusts with Australian beneficiar ies;
- Thin capitalisation;
- Foreign tax credit;
- Withholding tax; and
- Double tax agreement issues.
In the personal tax sphere our firm is able to provide advice for Australian expatriates and for persons wishing to immigrate to Australia. Taxation issues which may arise for such persons include:
- Residency status for tax purposes;
- The taxation of income earned overseas;
- The capital gains tax implications of becoming or losing one’s Australian tax residence; and
- The status of superannuation which is accumulated in an Australian superannuation fund and which is left behind when an individual emigrates from Australia