Business Structuring
Structuring is the process of adopting and implementing the best legal entity for your current and future needs. It sits at the intersection of taxation, commercial law, specific regulations of companies and trusts and many other areas. The balance is in achieving desired results without triggering unintended taxation, succession or practical issues.
Situations where structuring assistance is required include –
- Restructuring to add further stakeholders to a business
- Sale of business
- Acquisition of a Business
- Business succession
- Trust establishment and operation
- Asset protection
- Restructuring for change of business operations, including acquiring business premises, entering new markets or franchising a business
- Family law scenarios
- Estate planning
We have assisted and advised on hundreds of trusts, company restructures, buy-outs, business sales and transactions from the simple to the complex. Some recent situations include:
- Restructuring a dental practice to add further stakeholders without taxation cost
- Restructuring a multi-office accounting firm to achieve better efficiencies and separation of assets and risk
- Restructuring a complex, multi-enterprise
- Sales of family businesses to publicly listed companies in Australia and overseas
- Advising on the acquisition and defence of primary asset of a large, Australian-based mining stake involving one of the world largest mining entities
- Structuring property acquisition and development for both single-family developers and multi-stakeholder developments
- Advising a government investment corporation in relation to subsidiary structures and governance
- Restructuring farming families tax-effectively to avoid estate claims, release assets for retirement and achieve business succession
- Separating property assets held in one trust into multiple trusts with minimal taxation implications
- Advising financial planners and accountants with structured buy-in, buy outs and restructures.
Taxation
There are over 120 taxes in Australia. While tax isn’t and should not be a major driver, it is an essential consideration of many commercial and personal decisions. Getting it wrong may cost a business owner or individual thousands of dollars and make worsen the situation to make an enterprise or intention completely unviable. Nor should the complexity of tax prevent you from taking the steps necessary to progress your business and achieve your goals.
Our lawyers and staff have worked in Queensland’s largest legal tax practices and include a Chartered Tax Advisor and accountants. We are a registered self-assessor with the Office of State Revenue (Queensland) and regularly assist clients with the following –
- Providing tax-effective restructuring advice for businesses
- Obtaining private rulings from the Australian Taxation Office
- Advising on and obtaining favourable assessments and outcomes from the Office of State Revenue
- Acting in disputes with the Australian Taxation Office
- Trust advice and establishing specific for-purpose trusts
- Advising estates and testamentary trusts on taxation and transfer duty issues
We are regularly surprised and disappointed that many law firms of all sizes do not have an internal capacity to advise on or assist with taxation matters, even those that impact on the transactions and advice they provide. We are able to identify these issues and, at worst, work with other advisors where specialist or niche advice or assistance is required.
We regularly work with accountants and other advisors to ensure that your full context is understood and you have the benefit of multi-disciplinary advice.
Key Contacts
James Stokes
Managing Director
