Expand in to Australia

Advice on Business structures

LOOKING TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS INTO AUSTRALIA?
 

The Australian tax and regulatory environment is far from simple and you will need a professional adviser  with local knowledge and experience to help. We have extensive  experience in helping overseas corporations setup and run their Australian operations and we can use that to help you with your business.

With our extensive Australian knowledge and experience we can help with:

• Advice on Business structures
  • Including profit repatriation
• Accounting in accordance with Australian international standards (AIFRS)
• Tax advice, return preparation and lodgement requirements
• GST
• Payroll, FBT and Super
• Company formation
• Trust creation 
• Registration for     
  • TFN
  • ABN
  • GST
  • PAYG
  • FBT
  • Bank accounts

Doing  business in Australia may be very different or only slightly different to your other operations but, you can be sure, it will be different.

Here are some things to consider when expanding into Australia. We can help with all of them:

Company or Branch
Is it more beneficial to incorporate an Australian company or simply to operate as a branch of  one of your overseas corporations? There are different tax and reporting treatments and requirements for both.

Profit repatriation
How will any profits from your Australian operations be made available to the rest of your group and shareholders?  There are very complicated and ever changing transfer pricing laws as well as withholding tax requirements on overseas payments of interest, dividends, royalties etc. Which of your overseas corporations will own the Australian operation? Some countries have preferential treatment under double tax agreements making it important to consider your  structure.

Tax consolidation
This can allow you to have separate companies to hold assets or run different parts of your business treated as one company for tax purposes. The benefits are that legally, each company is a separate entity so the risks associated with one should be separate from the others but any losses may be available for use within the entire group.

Staff and Payroll 

Are you aware of ALL the issues involved in employing staff in Australia?

The employment laws in Australia are extensive. As the employer you will be required to withhold tax from every payment made to your employees and remit it to the ATO within certain deadlines that may be as often as weekly.  There are statutory requirements with regards to maternity and paternity leave, holidays, overtime, meal and travel allowances, long service leave and just about everything else that must be adhered to. 

There is payroll tax that may be levied on the employer at a different rate and from a different threshold in each state. Each State will also require mandatory Workers Compensation Insurance.

Many of the benefits your  employees outside Australia may enjoy such as a car, health insurance,  schooling, even meals may make the employer, i.e. you, subject to Fringe Benefits tax.

In addition to the salaries  paid to your staff there is a requirement to remit superannuation of at  least 9.5% of their OTE for almost every staff member to a fund of  their choice.